These Are The Best Years
by Victoriaaaaa
Summary: High School AU- Andy and Sam are going steady and are happy, but with graduation and life, a lot can happen. Previously Titled- Right Place, Wrong Time
1. Chapter 1

**This is AU, but my dad was telling me this story about high school sweethearts, young love and timing in life and I could see this story unfolding in my mind. **  
><strong>This chapter is a bit slower because I needed to introduce the minor changes in the plot, mainly Tommy and Claire still being together.<strong>  
><strong>I know I should be working on You Can't, An Hour A Day, and Stopped You but this idea was bouncing around in my mind.<br>****Any and all grammatical errors I own, and apologize for!**

**ENJOY!**

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><p>They had known each other forever it felt like, they had gone to through the school system together. Never too close but they were always around each other. It wasn't until they got into high school where they really became close, and just clicked.<p>

Everyone saw it, she would take the bus from her dad's restaurant to arena to watch his hockey games, with absentee parents like his, he often had to catch rides with his teammates. She'd go to every game, it was their thing, and she wanted to support him, to be there for him.

One of the biggest differences between him and her was their family dynamic, while he had a different up bring, with his mother being a nurse and doing shift work unlike your typical 9-5 job, and his father not being around all that much, leaving him fend for himself, and his sister, Sarah.

As for her, she lucked out, having two amazing parents who just made life look easy, her father was doing better, for awhile there no one was too sure. He was a copper, who had seen somethings that made him find comfort at the bottom of a bottle, but come hell or high water, her mother stood by him, helping him get better. Now he ran a successful restaurant and Claire was a stay-at-home mom.

He felt like they were his second set of parents, the ones he secretly wished he always had, he loved his mother and father, they did the best they could but her parents just adored him, supported him unlike his own.

_"Hey, you did great today_!" She said, greeting him in the arena lobby as he exited the change room, freshly showered with his wet hair, and dress clothes. He was wearing a blue button up, a striped tie with four shades of blue, black dress pants and matching dress shoes.

_"Thanks! Do we have any plans for tonight?"_ He asked her, dropping his hockey bag and pulling her into a hug, kissing her forehead as she pulled away.

He had never really been one for showing affection in public, probably because he never really received it from his parents but with her it was different, it was just easy, he wanted to be with her all the time.

_"Actually, we do, my dad's going to pick us up in a couple of minutes and were going to go to the restaurant and have something to eat with my mom if that's okay with you?"_ She asked, hoping he would say yes.

_"Sounds great, I haven't seen your mom in forever with school, hockey and work. It will be nice to see her. Let me just go tell Jerry I don't need his parents to drive me home, I'll be right back!"_ He said, leaving her to go talk to the Barber's.

He walked up to the Barber's, and was greeted with smiles and high fives, "_Sammy, you were on fire tonight! Well done son!"_ Mr. Barber said, looking at the two boys. They had been friends since kindergarten, Ms. Edwards class, and attached at the hip since then.

_"Well, I'd have to thank your son over here for showing me how to handle the stick better_," He said, grabbing Jerry pulling him into a half headlock, half hug sort of deal.

_"Anything, to help us win, Sammy!"_ Jerry responded pulling his head out of the head lock. "_Do you need a ride home tonight_?" He asked, Sam hated to admit it but he needed people's help and it was nice knowing that there were families like the Barber's and Shaw's who would look out for him.

He could count on his hand the amount of times his father actually attended a game, in a way it effected him, he felt like he wasn't good enough for his father's time, he respected that his father had to work, but at some point he realized it wasn't worth it to even invite him anymore, because it would always end the same way.

_"Hey pops, I have a game at Pine Point Arena against, the Pickering AAA team at 8, if you want to come and watch?"_ Asking, but knowing he'd probably make some kind of excuse for not being able to make it.

"_Jeeze, Sammy, you know I want to but I have to do a pick-up in Ajax, and then a drop of in Scarborough all before 7 and then you know the traffic coming back_," He would tell him.

_"Not a problem, just thought I'd ask,"_ Throwing his backpack over his shoulder, he'd walk out the front door and start his walk to school.

He never expected his father would say yes anymore, but he always told him when he was playing, so he had the option of coming.

_"Actually, Andy's dad is going to drive me back, were going to have dinner with her parents. But thanks for the offer_!" He said to his friend, knowing he had people like Jerry and Oliver on his side just made everything easier, "_Kenny, it was great as always to see you, and thanks again for the ride to the arena!"_ He told Jerry's father.

"I_t's no trouble, you know you're always welcome in our home, you're a good kid Sammy."_ He smiled at the young man, extending his hand out for a format handshake.

_"Thanks! And I meant what I said on the way over here, if you ever need someone to help you shove you're driveway once the snow starts to stick, please, let me know, it's the least I can do for you guys!"_ He felt bad never being able to give them anything after all they had given him, it was hard enough to cover the cost of playing and all his equipment, let alone paying the Barber's or Shaw's for gas.

_"Be careful son, one day I might take you up on your offer!"_ He said to Sam, as Sam turned away to go back to Andy who was just ending a phone call who he assumed was her father.

She smiled at him, as he walked up to her and grabbed her hand, their fingers intertwining immediately.

_"Hey, my dad's out front you ready to go?"_ She said still smiling at him.

_"Yeah, I'm all set let me grab my bag and I'm all yours."_

Dinner, the drive there was typical, easy, Sam felt so comfortable with the McNally family, he had met almost the whole clan, from Uncles and Aunts to her grandmother and grandfather. She didn't know if it was dumb lucky or his charming personality but they all adored him, every last one.

After the meal, he offered to walk her home, and then he'd walk himself home.

It was a typical October, fall night, cooler than the summer nights but enjoyable, and there was a light breeze.

They walked hand in hand, just talking, "_So, have you started you're math assignment yet? Or are you going to wait until last minute like last time?_" He asked her, poking fun at her need to procrastinate on their math assignments, it was her least favourite subject not because she was bad at it by any means but she just didn't like it.

_"One, shut up and two, yes I did actually, Traci and I met up after school today and started it,"_ She told him with a cocky little grin that appeared on her face.

_"Wait, you stayed after school to start the assignment?_" He asked with a sense of urgency that worried her slightly.

_"Uhh yeah, why what's the big deal with that?_" She questioned.

_"You mean to tell me you missed an episode of the Young and the Restless?! Say it isn't so!_" His word dripped with sarcasm.

Her facial expression showed how unimpressed with, he loved to tease her, just like kids on the playground. After rolling her eyes, she smiled at him "_Oh you're going to pay for that, just wait until the next time you're stuck at somewhere and you want me to tell you the score of the Leaf game, I'll just have to give a detail play-by-play of what you missed on the y&r._" She laughed, he loved hockey, almost as much as he loved the Leafs.

She often wondered why he chose the Toronto Maple Leafs, of all teams, they weren't exactly the team to beat, but Sam stuck by them, every year after they were systematically eliminated from the playoffs runnings, he'd simply say "_There's always next season,_"

Silence fell over the two of them, neither seemed to mind, they just enjoyed each other's company.

_"Did I ever tell you the story about my first time watching a hockey game?"_ He said softly, as he pulled her a little closer.

"_No."_ It was rare for him to really, truly open up, he had before with her. She felt so close to him when he did.

_"Well, uh, you know my dad and I aren't the best of friends, well for my sixth birthday he got us tickets to a Leaf game, they were playing the Bruins, and I remember never feeling like I had anything in common with my dad. So the thought of being stuck in a public place with him seemed like more of a punishment, than a present. Anyways we got to our seats, they weren't the best but I had never seen my dad look so happy in my entire life, just the way his face lit up at ever break away or power play.I could see it in his eyes how happy he was. From that day it's the only thing we really have in common, and I think back to that day and the smile that was spread across his face from the moment we entered that arena to the time we got home, made me feel connected to him, for the first time in my life._" He stopped them, and turned to face her.

_Eye to eye._

She just looked at him in awh, he had such an amazing sole, it was so unfortunate that he didn't have great relationships with his parents.

"_And ever since then you've been a Leaf fan?_" She asked him

_"Ever since that day._" He said softly, before pulling her into a gentle, innocent kiss.

The rest of their walk was silent, with the two of them sneaking glances at the other.

As they approached her front porch, he got this knot in his stomach. He didn't want to say goodbye to her, he didn't want to have to wait a whole ten and a half hours before seeing her beautiful, smiling face again.

Walking up the steps, seconds away saying their goodnight and goodbye's.

He looked at her, all bundled up with her solid black infinity scarf, button up army green jacket and cute little beige gloves, and smiled, "_You know I care about you right?_" He whispered quietly to her.

Smiling at him, she nodded, he had this effect on her, he was able to say the smallest things to her and she'd melt, blushing uncontrollably.

_"And I wanted you to know that I love you, Andy McNally._" He said, then holding his breath waiting for her to respond.

He was holding his breath, and she was breathless, _he loved her._

_"I love you Sam Swarek._" She said, before he pulled her into another kiss, but this time she felt the meaning behind it, she felt his love in his kiss.

She pulled back, knowing if her dad caught them making out on the porch, she would die of embarrassment. "_I'll see you tomorrow?_" She asked quickly.

_"I'll see you tomorrow,_" He said before turning on the balls of his feet, grabbing his hockey bag from the bench on the porch.

Unable to wipe the grin off of his face the whole walk home, he loved her, and she loved him, and everything was good, at least for now.

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><p><strong>What do you guys think?<strong>  
><strong>Continue or no?<strong>  
><strong>Let me know! :)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so, I am attempting to place all significant Sam and Andy moments in this story, while including all stuff I want. Please bare with me guys, if this works out like I've planned out in my head this could be a long, happy story!:)**

**A/N: All grammatical errors are mine, and I apologize greatly for them.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>If it was up to Sam the rest of his days would have been that easy as the day before, everything was <em>good,<em> everyone and everything were in a good place; at least until he got the phone call.

He and Sarah had been close growing up, helping each other, being rocks for one another, because in their household, you couldn't survive on your own. Even though he was the younger one he always felt like it was his job to protect her, the same way he felt this need to protect his mother, and now Andy.

They were people he cared for in his life, and he was terrified of losing any one of them. The thought of losing them made his vision go fuzzy, he couldn't see straight, he didn't let many people in, hell, he didn't even really let his mother and sister in but he knew they loved him, and he needed that, that reinsurance that someone cared about him, someone worried if he didn't come home.

He and Andy had just walked through the front door of Andy's suburban, white-picket fence home when his phone rang, "_Hello? Dad?"_ He answered, confused at why his father was calling him.

They didn't have that kind of father son relationship, they didn't call each other, they didn't talk, they just coexisted.

Andy could tell by Sam's face something was wrong, just the way it dropped as she heard a voice on the other end of the phone.

She thought maybe his father had gotten in trouble again, her dad was an ex-cop, she had heard things, especially after the first time she brought Sam home. But she chose to believe that if it was true, any of it, Sam would tell her himself, until then she chalked it up to hearsay and rumors.

_"Uh, okay, yeah, yeah I'm uhh I'm on my way_." He said, snapping Andy out of her own little world._ "I uhh I gotta go,_" He told her, she could see in his eyes the panic, his eyes became shifty, looking around quickly.

Grabbing his bag, he made his way to the front door, "_Sam,_" He didn't answer, "_Sam! Is everything okay?"_ She asked, grabbing his arm and pulling him to look at her.

He couldn't look at her, he didn't know what to say, "_McNally not now okay? I need to go._" He decided, when he heard to close himself off, not get into it now.

_"If it's something with your dad, and his past, I can talk to my dad, we can help..._" She trailed off, they had talked a lot, but never about this.

He kind of always hoped she didn't know, or hadn't heard anything, but clearly she had heard and knew. It wasn't so much that he was angry for her knowing it was the embarrassment, he was embarrassed by his family's past.

_"No_," he shook his head, while putting his shoes, "_Andy, I have to go okay?"_

She didn't know if she wanted to cry or smack him, he wasn't being open with her, he wasn't being honest.

They had a talk about honesty when they first got together, when her dad fell off the wagon a while back, her parents decided to shelter her from it, she was shipping off to her Grandparent's farm in Orangeville on weekends, and kept away from her father at any and all costs. She didn't understand at the time why they did it, why they thought her not seeing her father was a good idea, but she didn't really get a say in the matter.

"_Why doesn't Daddy come to Grandma and Grandpa's with us Mommy?_" A young Andy McNally asked her mother from her booster seat.

_"Well baby, Daddy has to work and your Grandma is going to take you to the see the horses on Saturday and then on Sunday you're going to the Farmer's Market with Grandpa, then you can see Daddy okay? When we get home, Sunday nighttime before bedtime,"_ Claire McNally watched her daughter's reaction to he words threw her rear-view mirror. It broke her heart, her cheery, talkative daughter just nodded, as her head slumped down.

_"You promise Mommy?_" She asked.

_"Yeah baby, I promise."_ She was lying, it had become a routine for the McNally family, every Friday Claire would pick her daughter up from school, weekend bags already packed and in the trunk of the car.

They would leave straight for school, to her parent's farm. The weekend was always filled with activities that kept Andy busy, too busy to ask questions, they also served as a way to tire the young Andy out so when they got to the guest room each night, she'd be too tired to ask questions.

And every Sunday they'd leave just in time to hit rush hour traffic, resulting in the mother/daughter pair coming home later than anticipated, and late enough so Andy would fall asleep in the her booster seat.

Andy had always been a Daddy's girl, even since she was a baby. She idolized him, for a while she even wanted to be a cop just like her father.

This little charade went on for most of Andy's second grade year, barely seeing her father, be lied to by her mother, and spending a crazy amount of time with her loving grandparents.

Eventually her father got it together, the weekend trips to her grandparents fizzled out, and they decided to open the restaurant.

Even though opening the restaurant provided a ton of family time, still did, Andy never fully forgave her mother for walking away from her father like that, leaving him to suffer alone, he was sick, he had a disease, and she didn't stay to help him get better, she ran.

She always could never understand why her parents weren't honest with her, why they didn't just say they needed sometime apart, or that her dad was sick. She understood that telling a 7 year old that her father is an alcoholic wouldn't make much sense to her, but simply whisking her away to Orangeville every weekend wasn't the answer either.

Ever since then she never really trust people, she was always worried that they were going to walk out when she needed them most, just like her mother did to her father.

Watching Sam walk out the door, and not really tell her made her feel that type of way, that he was leaving and she didn't know when or if he was coming back.

_"Give him some space_," she thought as she reached for the banister of the stairs. _"He'll call when everything gets sorted out."_

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><p>He didn't expect to every see someone he cared about like this, walking into the hospital, he headed straight to the nurses desk demanding to know where is sister was.<p>

At first he was nervous, his father had been vague on the phone not saying much, but enough to scare him into getting to the hospital in record time.

_Room 421_

Opening the door slowly, his eyes landed on his sister, she was laying on her side, curled into a ball, eyes closed.

He had never felt pain like this, just looking at the state of her, she had cuts and hand marks up her arms, her bottom lip split open and puffy, and to top it all off she had what he could assume was a nasty black eye forming.

_'Who would ever put their hands on a woman like that?'_

His hands curled into fists until his knuckles went white, his pain turned into rage, that someone would ever do this to someone he cared about.

Looking up to see his mother had walked in, "_Sammy, she's going to be okay._" Placing her hand on his shoulder.

_"But you need to know something else, this won't get easier when the cuts and bruises heal,_" She closed her eyes and stopped for a moment, not knowing how Sam would react to the rest of the news. _"She was assaulted, your sister was sexually assaulted._"

_"Who did this?_" He asked, trying not to yell or take out his anger out on his mother, or wake up his sister.

_"A group of boys, the police are looking into it, but they need Sarah to give descriptions of them and she's not ready for that._" Sam felt so helpless as his mother spoke, he was suppose to protect his sister, his family, if he had been there, if he had offered to go with her, something that could have stopped this from happening.

For the next while, he decided to be there for his sister like he wasn't that night, but she was a changed person, she wasn't the same Square.

She just seemed sad, sometimes anger but mostly sad. She hardly every smiled anymore, the 2 days she spent in the hospital were tough but it gave Sam a sense of relief knowing there was security to watch over her when he couldn't.

He thought about going to school, but who would stay with her? She couldn't handle staying being alone, she didn't need someone hovering over her but she did need someone there, around her to remind her that everything is going to be okay.

His parents couldn't afford to take the time off work, with their father's work schedule changing at the drop of a hat and her mother's shift work, Sam took it upon himself to be there for his sister when his parents couldn't.

Which meant, _if_ he went to school, he would wait until the last possible school to walk out the front door, going home for lunch to check on her, and leaving immediately after the bell rang.

As for hockey he wanted to put it on the back burner, "_it'll be there when everything settles down,_" he'd tell himself but Sarah insisted that he go, she had watched her little brother work his ass off to save enough money to play, and she refused to watch him waste his money, and his talent.

When he got on the ice everything went away, the fear of leaving Sarah alone, his parents constant fighting, but there was one thing he couldn't get off his mind no matter where he was; Andy.

It had been two weeks since he ran out of her front door, he called her later that night to let her know everything was okay.

_"Hey, it's me_," He spoke, he was exhausted, mentally, physically and emotionally. Seeing his sister in that kind of state really effected him, hell, it would effect anyone.

_"Sam, hey, are you okay?_" She said frantically, ever since he left she worried, and it had been hours. Her mind wondered on the worst kind of situations.

_"Uhh, yeah, yeah, I'm uhh I'm good, I just wanted to call you and let you know because I know how you get when you worry_." A smile crept up on her face, even when he was going through all his stuff, he still made time to call her.

The phone went silent for a few moments, "_Well, uhh, I'm going to go to bed, it's been a long day,_" He trailed off in a way, not knowing how to end the conversation, their phone calls were never short, in fact this may have been the shortest conversation they'd ever had.

_"Okay, well have a good night,_" She said, they had never talked like this, so cut and dry, normally they would fight the urge to sleep to keep talking.

_"Yeah, you too_." He said, before yawning through the phone.

_"And Sam?" _She spoke quickly.

_"Yeah?" _

_"I love you_,"

And then the phone call was over. No I love you back, it was just _over._

Getting off the ice, life began to reset itself back in his mind, his sister, his parents, throwing his skates in his bag, Oliver offered him a ride, he opted to walk home alone, he needed sometime to clear his head, away from everybody.

Walking out of the dressing room, he threw his bag over his shoulder, stick in his right hand, eyes glued to the floor. He knew some parents had heard about Sarah, fellow nurses at the hospital. He didn't want their looks of pity followed by the '_I'm so sorry you're going through this'_ speech, he just wanted his sister to be better, he wanted his old life back where he worked too much, went to school, saw Andy in between all of it.

Moving his line of vision upward, so he didn't his anyone in the stomach with his stick, saw her. She looked great as always with light wash skinny jeans, beige boots that stopped about two inches above her ankles, she was wearing a new jacket, black button up with a belt hugging her tiny waist, he had never seen before, and her hair was pin straight with a braid in her bangs but this time something was different about her not the new jacket but her.

She smiled when she saw him, her heart skipped a beat and stomach fluttered when he returned the smile, with a dimply one of his own.

_"Hey,_" he said walking over to her, and tossing his bag on the ground. Putting his hands on either side of her face, he leaned placing a gentle kiss on her forehead, she in turn wrapped her arms around his waist and held him close.

_God, I miss this,_ he thought, as he rested his forehead on hers.

_"I know this may seem a little bit stoker-y but I needed to see you."_ She was blushing with embarrassment, she had stormed the hockey arena with the sole purpose of finding Sam and talking to him.

_"I'm glad you did_," He said, kissing her lips gently.

Pulling away from him, she bit her lower lip and looked at him, _"Sam, where have you been, why haven't I seen you at school? I'm not trying to be a clingy girlfriend, I told myself I'd give you space but it's been 2 weeks, and I haven't seen or heard from you._"

He knew this talk was inevitable but he just didn't want her to act any differently towards him or his family, treat him like he was made of glass.

_"Do you want to walk_?" He asked, throwing his bag back over his shoulder, stretching his arm out, waiting for her to accept and push her hand in his.

She nodded, hand in hand, followed his lead.

He walked her all the way to her front porch like he had many time before but this time when they got there he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, he told her everything, and she was still there. She took the news well, she didn't judge, or pry for more information, she just listened, and spoke when she felt it was needed.

_"Promise me something?_" She said, walking toward the little bench that was tucked away in the corner of the porch.

Following her lead, he sat down beside her, _"Go."_

_"If things so south with us, and I don't want them too. I hope they don't, if they do, then, don't, don't just walk out the door okay? Let's promise to work at it?_" She couldn't watch him leave again, she didn't want to.

_"You won't get rid of me without a fight._" He told her, leaning in for another kiss. _"I know these past two weeks haven't been easy on you and I apologize for not letting you in but I was trying to protect you, for all of i_t."

_"Sam, I love you for that but I don't need you to protect me from things, we're in this together, I'm in this to help you when things get tough, okay?"_ She said smiling at him, placing her head on his shoulder.

_"Okay._"

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><p><strong>What do you guys think?<strong>

**Yay or nay, please let me know, you're comments and reviews help me write more!**

**Thanks again for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Something light, kind of fluffy, before getting into the goooooood stuff,**

**Any and all grammatical errors are mine, and I apologize in advance for them**

**As always enjoy!**

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><p>Today was easy, it was nice, relaxing.<p>

It had been six weeks since Sarah's assault and four weeks since they had made agreement to work at it, work at them, everyday, improving and getting better.

Sprawled out on futon, in Andy's little home theatre in her basement the two sat there enjoying each other.

_"This Sunday, why don't you come over, it's suppose to rain, and we can have a movie marathon?" She offered, as they sat across from each other at a cafeteria table, waiting for their friends to join them._

_"Uhh, let me see how Sarah's doing and see if my mom or dad will be home, but that sounds heavenly." He worried, he wanted Sarah to find her way again, and it looked like she was, slowly but she was determined to let this define her. She still had her moments, flashbacks, but she was handling it like a champ, and Sam couldn't have been more proud._

_"Maybe, if you're lucky I might bake you something, you know for best such a good guy?" She offered, trying to sweeten the deal, and get him to her house._

_"McNally, there's nothing more I would like to more than hang out with you, all day, on Sunday, okay?" He ended his sentence with a grin, leaving her blushing uncontrollably._

She shifted her current position which was her head laying on his chest, her hand placed over his heart, getting closer to him.

_"What are you thinking about right now?_" She asked, looking up at him.

He looked down at her, laughing a little, "_Well I was thinking how we've watched Italian Job, my choice, Pitch Perfect, your choice, and now it's my choice and I don't know what I want to watch next. And I'm genuinely surprised that we didn't watch The Notebook or Dear John, or some Nicholas Sparks movie that I know you love to watch._"

Scrunching her nose at his remark about the Nicholas Spark obsession she secretly had, he leaned closer and kissed her forehead, and she relaxed. Turning her head, she placed her ear to his chest, listening to the constant beat of his heart, her eyes slowly drifted shut.

He thought about waking her, not wanting her to mess up her sleeping pattern, but she looked so peaceful, and it had been awhile since he had seen anyone look like that. Peaceful. So he decided to let her sleep, it had been a little caustic the past few weeks with midterms, and Andy wanting to keep her average up for potential universities. Because they look at grade 11 marks for early acceptances. And then there was cheerleading practice, he never pegged her as one but her mother was a cheerleader, so she decided that she wanted to keep the family tradition going.

Things were only going to get crazier, with winter break coming up, tests before the break, exams after, hockey season in full swing, and once Provincials were over, football tryouts started, which meant more cheering for Andy, then final exams, which meant a whole new semester starting with new classes, teachers and routines. Then just like that there grade 11 year would be over.

His mind was swimming with everything that was on the horizon for them, and how busy life was going to get, in a way he started to panic, then she took a deep breath and his attention was drawn back down to her.

It's like she knew he was freaking out, even in her sleep, he looked down at her and all the stresses and worries about the future seemed to drift away.

Relaxing the tension in his shoulder, he set his let his head fall back, closing his eyes, when she shifted again.

_"The Last Song._" She whispered into his chest.

_"The Last What?_" He asked, lifting his neck so he could actually see her face.

_"If we were to watch any of the Nicholas Spark book turned movie, we would be watching the Last Song_," Propping herself up so they could have a face to face conversation. _"Now that movie gets me every single time." _

"_Who's in it again? I know chick flicks are my expertise but this one must have split my must watch list,"_ He said with sarcasm.

She shot him a look, one that read if _he continued on this little path, they'd be watching it, and he'd have to deal with her when the credits role, and she's blubbering like a baby._

"_Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth, now that guy is hot, like have my babies any day of the week hot._ "

He looked at her, he didn't like the idea of her being with anyone else, "_Sam, calm down, I can hear the gears in that sexy head of yours turning. He's engaged to Miley, and I couldn't be happier for them. And I know you've got some secret celebrity crushes, but if they try anything, they'll have to get through me, so they better be ready to put up a fight._" A smile grew on both of their faces.

_"So I have a question,"_ She said, as she searched threw the wall of DVD's for their next two hours of entertainment.

_"Possible answer_." He responded, as his phone buzzed. Pulling it out of his pocket, it was from Jerry, asking if he needed a ride to practice tomorrow night, he responded quickly tossing it aside, and bring his attention back to his conversation with Andy.

_"Hot date tonight?"_ She asked jokingly, she knew Sam wasn't a texter, so who it could only be four possible people; his sister, Jerry, Oliver, or her. Neither of which had her nervous he would every cheat.

_"I mean it was kind of a day date, you might know her,_" He said standing up walking over to her. "_She's got a killer smile, like 100 watts, and these Bambi brown eyes that I lose myself in, and I kind of want to kiss her right now.._"

"_Oh yeah_?" She whispered.

He had her wrapped up in his arms, he planted a gentle kiss on her lips, then another, then another, until it became a needed, they couldn't get enough of each other, as the air became too great, she pulled back, trying to catch her breath.

_"About that question.._" She trailed off, evening out her breathing as she did. "_Who was your first kiss?_" She asked him, point blank.

He laughed, "_My first kiss? You want to know who was my first kiss was with?"_ He questioned, she would always ask him random questions every now and then.

_"Yes, Swarek, your first kiss, who was it? Gotta find out if I have any competition_," She said winking at him.

_"Well uhh, I was the first day of Senior Kindergarten_," He started before Andy jumped in, _"**Wait!** Your first kiss was in senior kindergarten?!_"

He nodded, "_Dang Swarek, I didn't know you were that smooth,_" She started to laugh, not at him, but at the 5 year old version of him planting on one another fellow kindergartner.

_"Anyways, back to your question, it was the first day of senior kindergarten and I was putting away my jacket in the cloakroom, and you know the Bowman twins; Monica and Macy. Well Monica was also putting her coat away, and she decided to pin me against my cubby and plant on me right then and there._" He had pulled out his poker face for this story.

_"So, Monica Bowman ehh?_" She added, as kissing him on the cheek again.

_"And the worst part about was I was dating Macy_," There was clearly more to this story, and Andy found it hilarious.

_"Wait, so not only did you make out with someone. In the cloakroom. In SK. But you made out with your girlfriends twin sister."_ She started to laugh again, it was nice to know Sam terrible experience was providing her with a good laugh.

_"Yup, and she had chapped lips, ugh, it was awful._"

She laughed until her stomach started to hurt, "_Well for the record I never like either of the Bowman sisters anyways_," She said smiling at him.

_"Good to know McNally, know who was you're first kiss?_" He asked, and watched as satisfied grin, slipped her away and her eyes widened.

_"Well, uh it's kind of embarrassing actually._" She didn't want to tell him, because it was, well, awkward.

_"Come on, McNally, I told you mine, and know you have to tell me yours." _She bit her lower lip, she didn't know how to go about it.

_"It was at Gail's twelfth birthday party, Traci dared me to kiss a boy, so naturally I chose a boy, went up to him, we kissed, end of story._" He thought about the story, it sounded vaguely familiar.

He didn't go to Gail's party because his mom was on shift until 6 and after she cooked dinner, and tidied up Sam knew she'd be too tired to drive him to some party.

He thought about asking his dad, but he wasn't ready to deal with some lecture about 'W_hen I was your age I walked everywhere, we didn't have cars, we wanted something we walked to get it,'_

_It was a typical Saturday, and Sam was 7, Jerry had called and asked him if he wanted to come to the pond down by his house, it had been turned into a mini hockey rink, for the neighborhood kids._

_But Jerry also lived about 15 minutes away, 3 subdivisions over, Sam wanted to ask his mom but she was working overtime to pay for Sarah's new glasses, and with Christmas coming up, a little extra money couldn't hurt._

_Naturally he thought about asking his father, who was sitting in the living room watching the Argo vs. Ti-cats rerun from the night before, "Hey dad, do you think you could drive me to Jerry's today?" A quite Sam Swarek asked his father, "He lives in Aspen Springs? Mom's taken me before, but she's at work.." He trailed off._

_"When I was your age, my old man used to send me to the corner store to buy him packs of cigarettes and beer." He instantly regretted his decision to ask his father, he clearly had, had a few. "You're a big boy, if you want to go somewhere walk yourself," He stated at his son._

_"Okay, thanks, that's a really good idea," Sam said, slowly walking out of the room._

_He called Jerry, from the kitchen phone, "Hey, my mom is making me go to my Grandma's to help her with some luncheon, maybe next weekend?" He was lying but to be honest he didn't know how to get to Jerry's without his parents, and he was too embarrassed to ask his friend for a ride._

So he never went to Gail's party, the only reason he knew what happened was the play-by-play Jerry gave him the next morning at practice, then he realized why the story had sounded to familiar.

_"Your first kiss was with Jerry?!"_ He exclaimed, now remembering how Jerry said they were in a dimly lit basement, and how some brunette had walked up to him kissed him, then ran off, before he could get a good look at her face.

_"Yeah.."_ She said quietly. She knew he wasn't going to be happy with the newly learned information. _"But for what it's worth, Jerry's got nothing on you_" She said, smiling at him.

_"Well, my first kiss was nowhere as good as my last one was,_" He said to her, pulling her back into his arms.

_"Same here."_

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><p><strong><em>What do you guys think?<br>_**

**_I just wanted to do something light, and giving you guys a better look their lives when they were younger._**

**_Review, comment please! _**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the lack of updates, however, I've already written not _one_, not_ two_ but THREE new chapters for this bad boy, and their the realllly juicy chapters, I just need to write some filler ones, and you guys will be loving me!**

**A/N: Sorry for any and all grammatical errors!**

**As always enjoy!**

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><p>He was bring really cryptic lately, she didn't really know why, it wasn't that he was acting off, but just he was being really cryptic with where he was going and who he'd be with.<p>

Not that she worried, she trusted him, they talked about cheating, the overall decision was, if one of them was unhappy, they'd be honest, open about it, instead of hiding their feelings about it and by being with someone else.

At this point they had been together for two years, senior year was ending quickly, and being decisions were being made in the very near future, where they would be going to school, a decision that would effect their relationship greatly.

So with him being so cryptic she figured it had something to do with school, and making a choice.

Life was really happening for them, he had football, and hockey, she had cheer, student council, prom committee, it seemed like they did it all and still had time for a solid relationship, not that it was easy but they made it work, she still watched his home hockey games, and they went to her parents restaurant afterwards.

She cheered at his football games, and pep rallys so for right now they were managing, some days were easier than others, the ones where they actually saw each other, as for the bad days, well those usually consisted of not seeing each other due to after school practices and lunch hour meetings, then late night studying for tomorrow's Chem test.

But when all else failed, he would call her at the moment when she was about to call it quits with studying, throw out all her notes and just give up. He'd call her and ask her about her day, and calm her down, they'd discuss their next date and everything would seem right with the world.

And today was suppose to be their get takeout and go back to her house day but with him being so cryptic she started to wonder if that was actually going to happen.

_"Hey, it's me, where are you?_" She had called him, after waiting outside the diner for 15 minutes, not that she minded, it was a beautiful day, there was a bench not far from the diner entrance, and she had brought her chem notes from her tutoring secession with a grade 10.

_"I'm on my way now, traffic, I've hit ever red light._" He was lying. He was behind schedule; big time. He had under estimated his ability to set up, even with Jerry, Oliver and Traci's help it still took him an hour longer than he expected.

_"Oh, uh, okay, no problem, I'm just sitting on the bench, studying, do you want me to order so when you get here we can just grab it and go, or do you want me to wait?_" She didn't really care, either way she got to spend some serious quality time with him and that was all she cared about.

"_Uhh, wait for me, if you don't mind._" Hoping it would give the others enough time to finished getting it together.

"_No problem_."

He managed to get there in record time, considering when she called him, he was still at Jerry's setting up, and lived further away from the diner than Sam did.

Pulling up to a parking spot, his eyes landed on her, she was just sitting there flipping throw her notes, highlighter in hand, one foot tucked under her butt with a determined look on her face.

He walked over to her, she didn't even notice until he blocked her sunlight, "_Hey, sorry for being so late, you name it, it happened, all the red lights, a bus, and Kipling was down to one line_." He told her, as he sat down beside her.

_"As much as your traffic woes fascinate me, I'm need a burger and chicken stat, I'm starving."_ She said. He learned very early on in their relationship, not to mess with her and food.

"_Only a burger and chicken, that's all you can handle today?_" She usually wanted and ordered a lot more, would eat most of it, then complain that she felt like her stomach was going to explode.

"_Not just a burger_" She said, closing her book, and standing to her feet._ "A cheese bacon burger, with fries or no, not fries, onion rings?_" She finished, not too sure which she wanted more.

"_And then I can't decide between chicken fingers, or chicken strips, I mean I know whatever one I get I'll regret it, and wish I got the other one, but I just am in the mood for chicken_." She offered her hand to him, awaiting his acceptance and him to join her in the walk to the diner.

They ordered, waited and now were in his truck on their way.

She noticed that they were taking a different route to her house, "_Why are we going this way?_" She asked, puzzled at the change of the easiest way to get to her house.

_"Uhh, no reason, change is good no?_" He replied, she felt him being cryptic again, instead of just answering her, he gave her some random response.

They drove in silence for a few minutes, he had one hand on the steering wheel and the other intertwined with hers.

_"Okay, Sam where the hell are we going, I know we are not going to my place because you passed any and all possible ways to get to my house, and you're kind of freaking me out here,_" She pulled her hand away from his, and turned her body to face him.

_"It's a surprise?_" He offered as a response, he wasn't about to tell her what they were doing when they got there, because well, it was a surprise.

_"I don't like surprises_," She insisted, hoping he'd turn the truck around and take her home, without any surprises. _"Listen if you're going to kill me, just uhh, just do it quickly, and remember my dad's an ex cop, so good luck getting away with it doll_." She winked, at she patted his cheek gently.

"_Hate to break it to you McNally, but there's no way you're getting rid of me that easily,_" He told her, giving her a dimply smile afterwards. "_You just need to trust me on this okay?_"

They passed more streets, and where currently somewhere she had never seen before.

She was still unsure of what was going on, but she decided to try and go with it, "_You do realize our food is getting cold right_?"

She looked at the brown paper bag in the back seat of his truck, she thought about how they could be eating right now, eating delicious diner food, if he hadn't decided to deviate from the plan. "_Like we are wasting food, there's kids in Africa who would give an arm and a leg for a bite of my burger and you're letting it go to waste_." She was hungry and wanted to eat.

_"Do you trust me?"_ He asked, as they pulled over on the side of a street somewhere in a subdivision she didn't recognize.

_"I guess so, I mean I'm like 80% sure you're going to kill me but yeah I trust you._" She said.

_"Okay, then put this on._" He said, passing her a blindfold he had been hiding in visor.

_"If you're going to kill me, do you really have to blindfold me?_" She questioned, as she pulled the blindfold over her eyes.

They drove around for a bit, little did she know they were really just driving around in one big circle, in hopes she would lose all sense of directions.

_"I guess I should be happy right?_" She said looking over in his direction, blindfold still very much on.

He laughed at her quietly, "_What do you mean McNally?_"

_"Well I mean you're obviously going to kill me, and I'm going to miss prom, graduation, college, but I guess I should be happy I made it this far, you know I did get to go to spring formal, so that's a plus._" She babbled on, about life and what she had experienced.

_"Yeah spring formal."_ He said, quietly under his breath.

_..._

_"No, no, absolutely not!" He told her from across her living room._

_"Sam, please!" She begged, giving him the Bambi eyes, pouty lip, she was pulling all of the stops out on this one._

_"McNally, no, not happening." He was staying firm on his answer, which was no._

_"Hear me out, it'll be fun, I'll look super cute, you'll look hot," She looked at him hoping she was starting to win the battle, his face still read- no way in hell._

_ "Ughh, Sam come on! Even Jerry's going, hell he asked Traci to go in like the cutest way possible!" She exclaimed, it was true, Jerry had arranged with their first period Chem teacher to allow him to walk into the lab, singing some Coldplay song, with a bunch of the hockey guys each wearing a letter that eventually read "Spring Homecoming?", it was the most romantic thing Andy had ever seen- in person, Jerry had nothing on Nicholas Sparks._

_"Well, I'm not Jerry, and I'm not going, so you're going to have to deal with it." She understood that Sam wasn't the super romantic type, comparing them to Trac and Jerry, they were moving at the speed of snails, those two said they loved each other 3 months in, and have never looked back. Sam and Andy on the other hand took their time, said it when they were ready._

_She didn't need Sam to ask her in front of her whole Chem class, what she wanted him to do was at least go- with her, she wanted to show him off, show people that they were happily together, she just wanted to have a really good night with him, and their friends._

_"Why though? Why not, we can go and have a fun time? Don't you enjoy having fun, Mr. I'm Too Cool for Spring Formals." She said, as she walked to the kitchen, where he was making them an after school snack. "Is there another terrifying experience that happened at a dance that has scared you for life like Monica did in that cloakroom?" She joked, winking at him, as she made the tiny jump, planting her butt on the island in her kitchen._

_"Ha, Ha, very funny," He said making his way of to her sitting body, "No, I've never been scared or kissed at a school dance. If that's what you're asking me here." He placed a gently kiss on her forehead before going back to the stove to flip the grilled cheese sandwich he was making._

_"I mean if you want that to happen, let me know, I think I can find a cute brunette who would be very interested in fulfilling that fantasy of yours." Her legs dangled over the edge of the counter._

_He gave her a wicked grin, "It's just not really my thing," He said, watching as her jaw dropped, "Dances, not cute brunettes, cute brunettes are very much my thing, well one cute one in particular.." He trailed off, noticing her jaw as back up near her mouth, and formed a huge smile. _

_"Well you know I could saw you what you're missing at these dances," She suggested, jumping off the counter and walked towards him._

_Grabbing his hands she placed them firmly at her waist, allowing hers to meet behind his neck, she pressed her chest to his, "And we'd stay like this for a whole slow song or two, then I'd probably let you kiss me," She told him, as she got on her toes to allow her lips to meet his._

_..._

_"Dammit Sam, where are we going?" _She said, snapping him out of his little flashback_, "Our food, my burger is freezing cold by now, so where are we going." _

Pulling up to their destination he killed the engine, opened the door and made his way to her side of the truck.

Opening her door, _"We are here, my impatient one,_" He said, grabbing her hand and guiding her on to the grass.

_"Okay but where is here?_" She asked, "_And can I take this blindfold off yet?_"

_"Not yet,_" He told her, as he lead them up the front steps, "_Watch you're step_."

Managing to make it to the front door without anyone falling on any steps. They walked for what felt like forever for Andy, but really it was just walking through Jerry's front hallway, through the kitchen to his backyard.

Stepping on to the deck, Sam nodded his head quickly, with that music started to play.

"_What is that?_" She said, as she heard the opening rift of Ashes by Andy Brown

_"Alright_," He said turning her around so she was facing the open patio door, _"I want you to count to ten and then turn around, deal?_" He started to back away, awaiting her response.

"_Deal, ten, nine, eight,_" She began.

He raced over to his planned position, and grabbed his sign.

_"Seven, six, five._"

His heart was racing, this needed to be perfect.

"_Four, three, two._" She reached for the back of her blindfold.

Turning around she saw all of it, "_One._" The words left her lips, and she was speechless.

Her heart stopped, they were on Jerry's deck, it was covered with lights and candles, the sun was just starting to set, and directly across from her standing there with his adorable, dimply smile was Sam holding a dozen red roses.

"_Andy McNally, will you go to Prom with me?_" He asked, walking over to her.

_"You're such an idiot._" She laughed, she could feel the tears in her eyes.

_"Is that McNally for yes?_" He questioned, if she said no, he'd be really embarrassed because Jerry, Ollie and Traci were watching from stairs.

_"Yes, yes I'll go with you!_" She exclaimed, running over to him, and jumping into his arms.

_"Well done Sammy_." Oliver chimed in, as the three of them walked up the stairs.

_"God I love you_," He whispered with her still in his arms.

"_I love you too,_" She said back quietly before pulling him into a kiss.

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><p><strong> Yaaa or Nah?<strong>

**I think I've decided I'm going to gloss over the grade 11-12 time frame, and but go into it more in flashbacks and memories like that? If that makes sense, if you don't like the idea let me know.**

**As always please review, comment, let me know.**

**Like I said before, I have already written 3 more chapters, I just need to add the filler ones, to keep this story long for you guys!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's the next chapter, no flashbacks just a development in the story.**

**As always I apologize for any and all grammatical errors. **

**ENJOY!**

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><p>"<em>Have you told Sam?"<em> Traci asked her friend, from across her bedroom.

Ever since Andy had told Traci is was basically all they talked about, someway or another the conversation came back about to it.

Traci wasn't mad, she was upset, it was a huge choice Andy was making and selfishly Traci felt that it would effect her too. But it also had the potential to ruin her and Sam.

_"__Not exactly.._" She trailed off, as she put the finishing touches on her headband braid. "_I'm waiting for the right time?"_ She offered as a more valid excuse for not telling him.

_"__News flash there isn't going to be a right time, this isn't going to be easy but he needs to know, he has a right to know_." Traci couldn't understand how she hadn't told Sam yet, she wasn't judging but with her and Jerry, they always had discussed this, the potential of what might happen, and where they stood on the future.

_"__It's my future, I think if anyone has any rights to it, it's me, as much as I love Sam, it's my future not his._" She turned to her best friend, looking teary eyed._ "I don't know what to do, if I stay I don't think I'll be happy with my long-term future, but if I go I leave Sam, and I don't think I'd be happy with a future without him."_

_"I'll love you either way.."_ Traci said pulling her best friend into a hug. _"Now let's discuss something else before I ruin my makeup_" Pulling away from her friend and fanning her eyes.

Unknowingly on the other side of Traci's bedroom door, when more had heard a chunk of the conversation and stormed into the room, _"Andy, are you pregnant?!_" She questioned, looking at both Andy and Traci.

Andy had known the Nash's since birth, their mother's had met in a First Time Mommy class, and had been friends ever since.

Andy and Traci were born months apart, and had been inseparable ever since, ever throughout middle school, high school, break ups, make ups, they were still best friends.

Yes, they didn't agree on every little thing that came their way, they also both had serious boyfriends who took up a large portion of their time after school, and other commitments.

They were the type of friends that didn't have to talk every single day but when they didn't, they were dying too.

Both Traci and Andy's eyes widened, _"Mom!"_ Traci exclaimed, shocked that her mom had the nerve to storm her bedroom like a person on a mission.

_"You two heard me, Andy are you pregnant?_!" Andy had never seen Ms. Nash this frazzled in her 18 years of life.

The two friends looked are each other,_ "I came up here to check on you two see if you needed anything and all I hear is it's my decision, not Sam's? Did Sam get you pregnant sweetheart_?" Ms. Nash's motherly instincts kicked in, along with awkwardness of a safe sex talk happening.

Andy had never felt so uncomfortable in her entire life, there was something about her second mother asking if her boyfriend had impregnated her that made her face go bright red, and want to bolt out the door.

_"MOM! Are you being serious right now?!_" Traci demanded, it was one thing for her mom to be noisy, it's another to bluntly ask her best friend if she was pregnant.

"_Traci Marie Nash, don't start with me, I'm asking Andy not you!_" Her mom pointed her finger and everything, this was the real deal.

_"No, I uhh, I'm not pregnant._" She said looking to the floor, _"I'm definitely not pregnant._" She began to fidget with her fingers, trying to clam down before continuing.

_"But you said it was your decision not Sam's, and you were talking about the future, Andy what's going on?_" This wasn't how she wanted people to find out, it was a big decision and big news, that had to be told to people in a certain way, hell, her parents didn't even know yet, Sam didn't either- clearly.

...

They finally arrived at Jerry's party, they dropped their coats and bags off in Jerry's room and made their way to the kitchen to get something to drink.

Two red solo cups in hand Traci made herself a drink, and Andy poured her cooler into a cup, _"Well, that was uhh, awkward to say the least_" Traci said twisting the lid tightly on the orange juice she had grabbed from Jerry's fridge.

_"Ya think?_" Andy stated between sips of her drink,_ "I mean you're mom stormed into your room thinking I was with child._" She motioned, patting her stomach.

The two began to laugh, the way the whole situation was handled was something they could now laugh at; the shock in Ms. Nash's face, how red Andy's face got, and how Traci's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head, right after she picked her jaw up off the floor.

_"Yeah, I'm sorry, you know how my mom is, with you know teen pregnancy, prevention, all that stuff."_ Traci had the talk by age 11, knew about all the options she had if she was to get pregnant by 12, and knew how to have safe sex by 13.

Making their way over to the back deck, to enjoy the cool spring evening, they laughed about Traci's mom, and both of their reactions. _"So, when are you going to tell Sam?"_ Traci asked; again for the millionth time.

Andy opened her mouth to respond the same way she had the million times before, when she felt his arms snake around her waist pulling her into him, "_Tell Sam what?_" He asked, before kissing her on the cheek.

This was not the right time, this was so fair from the right time.

She started to panic on the inside because nothing was for sure and she didn't know if she wanted it but the option was there. She didn't want to tell him, not because she was scared of how he'd react but she was scared of his response.

What if he told her to go through with it? What if he wanted to break up with her because of it? What if she decided last minute, that it wasn't what she wanted.

Her mind was going racing, unable to form a compete sentence that made any kind of sense, Sam asked again "_Tell Sam what?_" But this thine he furrowed his brow.

At this point he had let go of her, and walked to the side of both her and Traci to see if he could get a read on the situation.

"_I'm uhh, I'm going to go and find Jerry, give you two sometime to talk_." Traci said quickly, as she backed away heading for the patio door.

Now that the two of them were alone, she had no way of not tell him, _"Andy, what was Traci talking about?_" He asked again, "_What do you need to tell me?_" He was starting to get nervous, what wasn't she tell him?

"_Andy.._" He pleaded.

_"Can uhh, can we go somewhere and talk, in uhh private?_" She asked, if she was going to tell him, she wanted to do it somewhere where they couldn't be interrupted.

_"Yeah let's go._" He said, grabbing a hold of her hand, he lead her through the house, and to the driveway where is truck was parked.

_"Sam, you've been drinking, you can't drive, well uhh, you can but I won't get in the truck with you_." She told him, she promised her dad along time ago that she'd never get in the vehicle with someone who had been drinking, even just one drink. She also promised that she would never drive a vehicle, if she had any alcohol in her system.

_"I'm not going to drive McNally, we are however are going to sit in the truck, no running engines, nothing, just us sitting there talking._" He told her, as he opened his door.

_"Okay."_ She went around the front of the truck, and hopped into the passenger side.

They sat in silence for a few moments, Sam tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, Andy fidgeting with her fingers and the strings of her sweater.

"_So, are you going to tell me what's going on?_" He asked, wrapping his fingers around the steering wheel. _"Or are we just sitting here._"

She took a deep breath, it was now or never, if she waited, the time between now and then wouldn't be the same between them. But if she told him now there were a million what if scenarios that played out in her mind.

_"Okay, for started, this is not how I wanted to tell you._" She took another deep breath, "_I wanted to tell you when I was ready, and had kind of figured everything out._"

She paused, she was still trying to figure things out, how to tell him.

_"Are you pregnant?"_ He blurted out.

_"What?!_" She said, annoyed at everyone's assumptions.

_"Are you pregnant?"_ He asked for the second time, "_Because if you are, we can figure this out together, I can uhh, get a job somewhere, and uhh.._" He was freaking out, he couldn't handle a baby, not that he didn't want a family with her, he did- just not now, not at 18.

_"Sam, I'm not pregnant, I can't believe I've said that twice tonight but no I am most definitely not pregnant okay_?" She told him.

_"Then what is it? What is so huge that you what to tell me in private? And is such a big deal_?" He was more worried than when he thought she was pregnant.

_"I uhh, I applied to a certain school and I got in._" She told him, looking at her hands.

_"What school?_" He asked

_"UCLA_."

He felt a weight lifted off of his shoulders, this wasn't bad news, he knew Andy was a brilliant student and would be stupid to not explore all potential options.

_"Andy, I don't want to sound like an asshole here, but that's not big news_..." He trailed off, trying how to word this properly,_ "You're a straight A student, involved in the_ school,_ and community, any school would be luck to have you_."

_"Okay, good, I was worried you'd be mad, with me not telling you_." She smiled at him with rosey checks from blushing his compliments.

"_I mean it's not like you're actually going to school in Los Angeles.._" He said laughing awkwardly.

_"No, Sam, you uhh, you don't get it._." She started to fidget with her fingers again. "_I applied, I got in, and I'm going_."

As she spoke, he felt the weight going back on to his shoulders. "_What do you mean?_"

_"I mean, that I applied to one of the top schools for my program, I want it and I'm going._" She decided when she applied to be selfish, selfish to apply to a school hundreds of kilometres away from home. Selfish to leave her family, to leave Sam.

_"So what you're saying is that you're leaving at the end of the summer?_" He felt like he couldn't breathe, he was blindsided, they had discussed school, he wanted to go into either automatics or police foundations, and she was interested in interior or architectural design, she hadn't decided which yet.

Never once she had mentioned going to school outside of the country, she hadn't even mentioned taking her SAT's.

"_Not exactly._." She said quietly.

"_What exactly do you mean McNally?_" He couldn't handle anymore bad news, this was suppose to be the time of their lives, their senior year, prom, graduation, all of time, it was suppose to be filled with life long memories and fun, not this.

"_I'm leaving after exams,_" She felt bad telling him all of this now, she didn't think she'd get in, she didn't rock her SAT's like she had hoped but they accepted her.

_"So, after Canada Day weekend?_" He asked, meekly.

_"Yes_."

He just shook his head, not saying anything.

Silence fell between the two of them, neither really knew what to say, she knew no matter what she said it wouldn't change the fact that after Canada Day she was leaving. And he knew no matter what he said her mind was made up.

_"Sam...?_" She said quietly, looking up at him. "_Please, please say something_."

He could hear the shakiness in her vocal cords, "_What do you want me to say?_" He was so defeated and shell shocked that she was doing this.

_"I-uh- I don't know, something, I guess._" She shrugged her shoulders.

She was nervous because he wasn't reacting, he didn't seem anger, or sad, he just seemed blank, emotionless.

_"You, uhh, you seemed to have you're mind made up here, so what else is there to say_?" He was being honest, she had closed herself off when it came to this, she didn't let him in, she went off and did it on her own. After countless times of her begging for him to be open with her, she went and did the complete opposite.

_"So do you want to break up?_" She asked him, looking up for the first time in awhile.

_"No._"

_"Okay, well, then what do you want?"_ She asked.

_"I think I need sometime to process_ everything," He ran him tongue over his teeth,_ "You know wrap my mind how my girlfriend could go and apply to schools outside of the country without me knowing, or how she managed to study and take the SAT's completely under my nose, or how she had been accepted and failed to mention it until I walked in on a conversation she was having with her best friend. It's just a lot to take in right now_." He closed his eyes, running his hands over his face.

_"Sam, I get that you're mad but please, please don't shut me out okay?_" She was nervous of what he might do, not handle the situation properly, snap at some guy on the opposing hockey team and get suspended or worse.

_"Oh, so you don't want me to shut **you** out._" He pointed at her, "_but it's okay for you to do it for months"_ He ran his fingers through his hair.

"_Sam, I never meant to her you._" She said trying to look in his eyes.

_"Yeah well, I uhh, I gotta go._" He said, gripping the steering wheel until his knuckle went white.

She didn't say anything, she just opened the truck door and got out.

Walking up back up to the party she heard the engine start, looking back she saw it pull out of the driveway and watched until it turned at the end of the street and disappeared.

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><p><strong>What do you guys think? <strong>

**It's kind of the major piece of the story here, Andy leaving for school outside of the country. **

**Comment, Review, all the fun stuff! :)**

**Thanks again for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**This was one of my pre-written chapters, it glosses over a few big conversations that happened but all in good time!**

**As always I apologize for any and all grammatical errors!**

**ENJOY!**

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><p>It had been a long time, since they had seen each other.<p>

After they broke up on her porch it was done, she didn't call, he didn't text, they were just done. Over. Finished.

'_Today is going to be a good day_', he thought, as he got out of his truck and headed into the coffee shop, one the corner of First and Concession.

He had been getting through the break up much like any normal guy would, he took it in strides, at times tempted to call or something, but fought of the urge. He would be the first one to attempt he was sad, he didn't want to break up with her but it wasn't the right time for them.

He couldn't decide if her being gone was helping or hurting his recovering heart. On one hand there was no possible way of running into her, she was in another country but on the other hand, if he saw her around he would know she's okay, and wouldn't wonder about her late at night.

Maybe down the road when they both grew up enough to make it work, but right now, wasn't there time.

Opening the door of the shop, he half expected for his mind to look for her, this was the place they had their first sort-of-date.

_Walking through the same door, two years before a nervous Sam Swarek looked for the perfect place to sit, somewhere he could keep an eye on the door but closed off enough that they wouldn't be disturbed easily._

_The both in the far corner made the most logical sense, he opted for the side of the booth that face the door. His eyes glued to the door, waiting for her to arrive._

_As he moved the napkin dispenser for the fifth time, he heard the jingle of the bells attached to the door, his head shot up, their eyes connecting immediately. _

_She walked over to him, and he couldn't keep a dorky grin off of his face, she looked beautiful, wearing a pair of dark wash skinny jeans, a pair of ankle boots on her feet, a cream knit cardigan and a maroon tank underneath._

_"Hi," she said as she slid into her side of the booth. _

_"Hey, I uhh, I wanted to order you something so it was waiting for you when you got her but I uh- I didn't know what you wanted.." He didn't know what to say he had never been this nervous before._

_She giggled to herself, she had known Sam for as long as she could remember, and she had seen him, pick up, hook up and pull his smooth moves on plenty of girls, but here he was sitting across from her, studdering slightly. It was cute, funny but very cute. "Sam, it's just me, relax." She said reassuring him. _

_He didn't realize his nervousness was so readable, "I'm sorry, but I've never done this before." He told her, moving his hands around. _

_She raised her eyebrow slightly, "Never what Sam?" She asked. _

_His mouth gapped open, she was always pulling information out of him, it was nice, someone who wanted to know. "This is my first official date, date." He said._

_Now her mouth was the one opened, with no word coming out, "But I thought you and Jackie..?" She questioned, around Halloween of grade nine, it was well known around the school that Jackie and Sam were very much a thing, well that's what Jackie was saying anyway._

_"Nope," he shook his head, "We talked for a few weeks, and I think 8 of us hung out after school once, but no, Jackie and I were never, Jackie and I."_

_"Jenn?" She asked. _

_He laughed, "Okay, not to sound like a sleazeball but Jenn isn't my type, I don't go after girls who are known around all the high school in our city."  
><em>

_"She does have a reputation doesn't she." She accepted his answers, to be fair she had only heard about Sam's dating history through rumors, and her girl's nights with Gail and Traci._

_She_ asked_ him a handful more of names, that had been connected to him, he admitted to kissing a few but he stood by what he said he never took any of those girls on a date. _

_"Okay, last one I promise, what about you and Monica?" She asked him, with a side grin, she knew that they had dated, she had seen them together after Jerry's New Years party this year. Even though technically that was in grade 10 and know they were in grade 11, she knew they had dated._

_He ran tongue over the inside of his cheek, "Monica and I, uhh, we were having fun?" He said shrugging his shoulders, "Well, she was having fun, and I was falling for her," He finished his statement._

_Andy felt out of place. If Sam was in-love with Monica, then this couldn't work, it wasn't fair to either of them. As her mind spun with new information, and cleared his throat bringing her back to him, in this moment. _

_"I was falling for her, so I ended it, I could see it in her eyes, she didn't care about me," He told her, not yet finished with his story, "So yes, you probably saw us together at Jerry's party, but what you didn't see was, the huge talk we had before the countdown. I had ended it right before winter break, and when I saw her at the party, I realized something," he stared at his hands which were tightly wrapped around his coffee cup. _

_"Which was?" She asked meekly_

_"I realized I didn't miss her, I didn't miss her smile, or the way she bounced around a room, I realized I was falling for the idea of her, not her as a person if that makes any sense at all?" He felt good letting her know a bit more about him then his dating rumored reputation._

_"It makes all the sense in the world, I think we follow what are minds are telling us, over following our hearts."_

He walked over to the three person line that had formed before he entered, he dug around in his pocket, searching for his phone.

Dialing number he put the phone to his ear, as he continued to wait in line, "_Hey, I'm in line what did you want again_?" He asked.

_"Sammy! My brother, it's line you can read my mind from kilometers away_!" He heard Oliver roar on the other end.

_"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're going to put me in the poor house with whatever expensive drink you want this morning_." He shot back.

_"In that case, I'll have a grande Vanilla Chai Latte, no foam, god no foam, it's the worst, and two splenda,"_ The sassy in his voice, put a smile on Sam's face.

_"Okay, give me a sec_," He walked up to the baresta awaiting him, _"Can I have a grande Americano and a grande Vanilla Chai Latte, no foam, two splenda_.." He waited for Oliver's approval over the phone.

_"SAM! Tell her to use slim milk instead of two percent, I'm trying to avoid the freshman 15!"_ He said with a sense of urgency.

He read her name tag_,"Oh uhh Marlo, I'm sorry but my friend on the phone here would like you to use skim milk, not 2%, she's trying to ensure that she doesn't gain the freshman 15_." Knowing that Oliver could hear Sam poking fun at him, and referring to him as a girl.

_"Sammy! We work out 4 times a week, but we also drink a lot of beer, and eat pizza almost every night, I don't know about you but I don't want to be tubby when Zoe comes home for Thanksgiving!"_

He was paying attention to Oliver's banter about pizza and lifting weights, and Marlo saying it's not a problem to change the milk. He didn't even hear the door open, the bells chime together, or her walk up behind him.

It wasn't until he moved aside to allow the next person in line to order, and got Oliver to shut up long enough for him to tell him he'd see him soon, that he looked around and saw her.

She looked good, hair up in a bun, a cozy looking cream coloured cardigan, and black leggings with knee high boots, it had been awhile, he guessed she was home for Thanksgiving, but he won't know they didn't talk.

He didn't really know what to do, or what to say. He knew it would be rude to ignore her, when they've clearly made eye contact. He wasn't ready for a full conversation with her- yes, it had been a while but he was still healing, he didn't want to open, old wounds.

Unable to read her face, and gage what to do, he smiled at first, not a full smile but a genuine, _it's nice to see you smile_.

She stepped closer, to him, placed her order and then looked at him, "_Hi,"_ She said like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "_How have you been?"_

"_I've uhh I'v- I'm sorrry, I'm not going to do this, I'm not going to stand here and try to make small talk with you_." He admitted to her, as he was passed his drinks in a tray.

"_Sam, I.."_ She started, but he had already picked up his tray and looked like he was able to bolt.

_"I uhh- I gotta go,_" He said as if he had been running for hours, headed toward the door, with Andy hot on his heels.

They were standing in the parking lot, "_Sam, stop_," she insisted, hoping he'd listen to her long enough to hear her out.

_"Why? What could we possible have to talk about? You left, you left us, and now you're back? There's nothing left to say._" He placed his drinks on the hood of his truck, she stepped closer, stopping at the hood of his truck.

_"If that's why you think_.." She trailed off, his words hurt, she thought when she left they were on semi decent terms, he admitted that he loved her but the timing was just off.

_"It's not what I think McNally, it's what I know_.." He said, he dropped his head down, feeling defeated.

_"You know what I know Sam? I know that I asked you to come with me, I called you after you left, and I practically begged you to come with me, I was saying screw the plan, and let's just be together but then you weren't the one, standing at the airport like an idiot, I was_."

He shook his head, he had thought a lot about his decision not to go, and he realized it was the right one. _"You're right, I didn't go, not because I didn't love you, but because I didn't want too, I didn't want to leave everything I know behind to follow your dream, at the time it felt like the wrong decision but looking back on it, I did the right thing. I chose to let you go and be free, and I let myself as well. I'm 19, I'm not ready to put all my hopes and dreams in one basket, I'm not mature enough for that, I need to grow up, and so do you, and maybe, this can work._"

_"Maybe, maybe this whole thing was a mistake then? Since you've decided that you're too immature to handle this_," She motioned the space between them with her hand, _"Then all the stuff you said to me the night before I left was a lie, it was just you're way to getting out of things without having to actually get out of it._"

It hurt to think that he thought their entire relationship was a teenage joke in a way, she could feel the tears from in her eyes, her knees started to buckle. To think that they were swept up in teenage hormones and dreams.

_"No, that's not what I'm saying, Andy, our 2 years together were amazing, but were, and still are so young, too young to commit ourselves, there's so much we both need to see in this world, I would hate to think I every hindered or ruined your college experience because I was there, for you to give up opportunities because of me, and I hope you feel the same towards me, okay?_"

He looked at her, he still loved her, and he probably always would but, right now, this is what they needed to do. He could see it in the way she was standing, if he left know, she would probably spend 15 to 20 minutes crying in her car, and he couldn't leave her like that.

Closing the space between them, he walked to her, pulling her into a genuine hug, arms tightly gripping her waist, hers latched onto his neck. "_I'm sorry,_" she whispered in his ear.

_"Yeah, me too."_ He responded, pulling away from her.

They smiled at each other, they both knew this wasn't going to be easy, this whole not being together thing, but if they spent sometime apart, maybe they could have a real shot at things.

And like that they walked away in opposite directions, not knowing when the next time they'd lie their eyes on each other again.

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><p><strong>What do you guys think?<strong>

**I picture that they're run in's are emotionally packed but short, my personal opinion anyway, hens why the chapter is shorter. **

**I know, I know, this chapter says nothing about their actual break up, new time? Or the next, next chapter for sure!**

**Review, Comment, Let me know!**


	7. Chapter 7

**So, I got mixed reviews from the last chapter, and I wanted to clear some stuff up.**

**1) It should be confusing because you guys don't know what's happened from the last bit of Senior year to Thanksgiving weekend. **

**2) It's never been simple with these two, it took them FIVE YEARS/ SEASONS to get it right, it wouldn't be a Sam and Andy story if it was easy.. Come on people!**

**3) In a perfect world everything would be rainbows and sunshine but that's not the path I'm taking here, sorry. **

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><p>Her roommate was nice, polite, tided up after herself, she was no Traci though, they didn't click right away.<p>

And this girl could talk for days so far Andy knew she was from Calabases, parents were divorced, she had an older brother who was on an NHL farm team, awaiting his shot in the pros. And that was just a quick summary.

_"He's going to be visiting me, well I guess us, sometime next week_." Chloe said, pushing herself away from her desk and walking over to their mini fridge.

_"Who, sorry?_" Andy asked, to be honest she was zoning out as her roommate spoke.

_"Luke, my brother, he's coming to visiting next week._" Chloe felt that Andy was always checking out, like her mind wasn't always here. It was somewhere else.

Grabbing herself a bottle of water she made her way over to her bed. _"So got anybody who's going to be dropping by anytime soon?_" She asked.

Andy sat there thinking about it, her parents agreed that they'd visit during second semester since she'd be home for Thanksgiving, Graduation, and then Christmas during the first semester.

They also wanted her to develop a routine down there, become independent, live a little.

There was no way Traci could afford to flight herself down here, not that she would want to leave Jerry's side anytime soon. Those two were voted Prom King and Queen of their senior prom, it was a well known fact that Traci and Jerry, were going to become Mr. And Mrs. Barber within the next 5 years, easy.

Then start their fairy tale storybook ending together, prefect marriage, 2.35 kids, a house with a white picket fence, a dog; perfection, as Traci called in.

And then there was Sam; she secretly hoped every time someone knocked on the door it was him. She would have given anything to have him here, seeing _this_ part of her life. But he didn't show up at the airport, in someway she expected him to be there because he was always there.

For the first time, in a long time, she put all her trust into someone, and he walked away her.

_"Nope, no one._" She said sticking her head back in her textbook.

_"So whatever happened between you and this Sam guy?_" Chloe blurted, as she closer her textbook retiring another night of studying.

_"What do you mean?_" Andy said, looking up from her own textbook.

They had talk a bit about home, past relationships, she mentioned Sam every now and then but had never told Chloe the whole story.

_"Well you said it didn't work out because he's there and you're here but what really happened_?" She was curious, curious why her roommate would rarely attempt to hookup with guys. And there were some serious hotties on their floor. Why every time the name Sam was spoken her eyes lite up for a second then her whole body hunched forward looking defeated.

_"That's what happened, he said home and I left, it's pretty self explanatory from there._" It's not that she didn't want to let Chloe in on this part of her past but she wasn't ready to relive it, when she went home for Thanksgiving it seemed pretty evident that things were over between them and Sam was happy with his decision to stay.

_"Okay, then why did he want to stay, I mean you're great and I can only guess that you two loved each other so, why would he want to stay_?" Chloe had always been one to prey for information, it's was kind of her thing.

_"He stayed because of his mom, and sister- his uhh father wasn't the greatest and if he left, he probably would have spent a majority of his time worried about them, so he chose to stay._" It was true, Sam protected his family with his life, and the idea of leaving his mother and sister with his father after everything happened, she knew it would be hard for Sam to do it.

_"Alright, so he stayed to protect the fam, what about you then? Why did you leave, from what I've seen online and you've told me, you had it made at home, great parents, good looking boyfriend, great friends, why leave?_" Chloe knew why she personally left, he mom and dad were divorced, Luke was on a farm team, her life she loved so dearly had crumbled away in a blink of an eye, but from what Chloe knew and had seen about Andy she had a picture perfect life.

_"Not everything is as perfect as it seems. Do you really want to know what happened with me and Sam?_" She asked truthfully, she knew once Chloe opened up this can of worms there was no closing it, she would have to listen to every detail.

_"Yes, I mean were suppose to be roommates, and as we continue through school were suppose to become life long friends, at least that's what happens in the movies, so tell me everything_." She shoved her textbook back into her bag, and got comfortable, ready to listen.

_.._

_She hadn't seen him with her own two eyes in 4 days, not since she told him her plans and he left. _

_It was a half day for seniors, all the other grades were doing course selection, then a career fair. _

_They met at the coffee shop where they had their first date, it wasn't prearranged, well it kind of was, she was able to get Traci to convince Jerry to get Sam to pick up coffee before a study secession, and Andy just sat there and waited. _

_He saw her before he even walked into the building, she was sitting at the booth which was perpendicular to front glass wall of the shop. _

_A part of him thought about turning around and leaving, the other part of him knew he had to talk to her eventually, there was only so much dodging he could do. _

_And besides she knew his schedule like the back of her hand, if they didn't talk now, she'd show up at the garage, or at the arena, either way they were going to talk. _

_She knew that he would walk in and head for the line up, place his order and wait, there was a chance he'd look around and see her, and if he didn't she'd walk up to him, ask if they could talk. But that's not what happened at all._

_"I should have known," He said, catching her off guard, looking up from a partial text she had written Traci updating her on the situation. _

_"Huh?" She responded quickly. _

_"Come on McNally, you telling me it's a coincidence that my best friend who happens to be your best friend's boyfriend asked me to get coffee, and then you just happened to be here at the same time you're suppose to be on spare, getting your notes ready for the minor niner you tutor after class every Friday after school." He knew this was her doing, it was her thing, trying to fix things without making a big deal about it. _

_"Can we talk?" She said, deflating as she spoke, she knew this wasn't going to be an easy conversation and it was already off to a rocky start. _

_He debated internally, he didn't want to fight with her, but he always didn't want to lose her either. "We're going to have to talk at some point right?" He said, sliding into the opposing side of the booth she was on. _

_She didn't say anything, and he assumed she would start this talk off because it was her idea but she just sat there in silence. _

_"So, how are we gonna start?" He asked, as he placed his hands on the table, intertwining his fingers together. _

_"Well, I mean, I guess I should tell you that you scared the hell out of me.." She stated bluntly._

_He furrowed his brows, more confused than ever, "How uhh, how did I scare you McNally?"_

_"You just left the party, you had been drinking, and you got in your truck and drove off, and then I didn't hear from you until now, and I didn't know if you were okay until Jerry called Traci the next morning telling her that you came back after everyone left, and crashed upstairs.." She paused, adjusting her voice, she knew she was getting a little loud for their current venue._

_ "I thought you had gotten into an accident, I was really scared, I was scared that our last conversation we ever had ended in a fight and you leaving. I was scared you died mad at me, I was scared that you died thinking I was mad at you or didn't love you because of the choices I was making." _

_He could see it in the way her body shifted as she spoke, he had scared her, and that was the last thing he wanted. _

_Yes, he was angry with her but he never wanted her to feel the way she did Friday night. "You're right, I'm sorry, I should of text you or let Traci know I was fine sooner. I apologize," He said reaching his hands out for hers._

_"Yeah you should have," She said placing her hands in his. _

_"But you need to understand something, I'm still trying to process what the hell happened, how you could keep me in the dark on your plans like that. Andy I had no idea you were even looking at school's outside of the province let alone the country, and then you sat there and told me you didn't just apply, you had already been accepted, and that you were going. From where I was sitting there was nothing left to say, you were going and there was nothing I could say to stop you. Do you know how that felt? To watch the girl I'm madly in-love with sit there and tell you that she was leaving." He ran his thumb over her knuckles, he was terrified of losing her._

_"Sam, I never meant to keep you in the dark about this.. You have to believe me on that." She told him, leaning forward slightly. _

_"Then why didn't you tell me?" He had always been a huge supporter of hers, in everything she did, he couldn't wrap his mind around why she would keep this from him._

_"Because I knew if I told you that you would support me, and then I would be the reason we didn't work, I'd be the one leaving, just like my mom walked away from my dad." She pulled her hands from his, closing her eyes quickly. _

_"Andy... we aren't you're parents, you are not you mom and I'm not your dad, your dad was sick, and your mom didn't know how to deal with it, okay? Your mom came back to your dad." He offered her a comforting smile, as she opened her eyes._

_"Or you would have tried to convince me to stay.." _

_He cut her off, "Andy I would never ask you to give up your dreams for me, I love you that much, enough to let you go." _

_"See that's the thing Sam, I love you enough to stay, I was willing to give it all up for you, all you would have to say is 'don't apply' or 'stay' and I would have," She shook her head slowly, she could feel the tears creeping their way into her eyes._

_"Hey, I love you, you know that?" He asked her, getting out of the booth and moving over to where we was sitting._

_She immediately move towards him, as he sat, "I love you too." She said. _

_Wrapping his arm around her he pulled her into his embrace, kissing the top of her head. _

_"Where do we go from here?" She asked, looking up at him_

_"I don't know, I have no idea."_

_"And then uhh, things went back to normal for a while, and now I'm here, you happy now?_" She asked her roommate, who had her hands either sides of her face, watching Andy tell her story.

"_There is no way, on earth that's it?!_" Chloe exclaimed, jumping from her position, walking over to the end of Andy's bed. "_You guys had a cute moment in a cafe and then he just let you leave?!_"

She laughed to herself, _"Oh god no, but uhh, that's all I'm up for sharing right now, do you mind if I tell you the rest later?"_ She offered, it was true she was tired.

Shrugging her shoulders, Chloe responded, "_Yeah, I guess, I'm assuming you're going to bed?_" She watched as Andy nodded her head,_ "Alright well uh, I'm going to hang out in the common room for a while, maybe study some more, have a good sleep._" She walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Andy flopped on her back, she didn't realize how much an effect just talking about her and Sam on her, she wanted to cry, she also wanted to call him, let him know how she was feeling. But that's not fair, not when there's so much distance between them. Not after everything that's happened.

Instead she reached over to her phone and dialed, she waited until she heard a voice on the other end._ "Hey, I know it's late and you're probably sleeping but I just needed to talk to someone from home, I need to hear a familiar voice_," she said, breaking down slowly.

_"Andy is everything okay?_" The voice on the other end asked.

_"Yeah, Trac I'm fine it's just uhh, I miss him, I miss him so much, and all I can do is sit here and miss him. I can't hope into my car and drive a few minutes to see if, did I make a mistake leaving, leaving him? You? My mom and dad?_" She became frantic, she started to doubt what she had done.

She started to think about how happy she would have been at an Ontario University, and then she would still be with Sam.

_"First things first, take a deep breath,"_ Her friend told her.

_"Okay."_ She said allowing her lungs to fill with air then exhale completely.

_"Better?"_

Shaking her head even though Traci couldn't see her,_ "Yeah_," She responded.

_"Listen honey I know it's tough and everything but this is what you wanted, and he knows that._" Secretly Traci had been keeping tabs on Sam since Andy left, she'd ask Jerry how he was doing, hang out with the two of them occasionally just to see for herself. She was doing so encase there was any sign that he needed her, needed Andy.

_"I know I just really miss him, I love him Trac" _

_"I know sweetheart, I know."_

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><p><strong>Okay, okay, don't get used to daily updates guys I was just so frustrated with the comments that I needed to clear it up for you guys!<strong>

**Reviews, Comments?**

**Let me know what you guys think**


	8. Chapter 8

**Pre-written.**

**This chapter should fill in a bunch of holes from previous chapters.**

**Any grammatical errors I apologize in advance for!**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>It had been 6 months, 3 weeks, 4 days, 7 hours and 12 minutes since they had spoken to each other.<p>

He didn't call, he couldn't. Simply hearing her voice, in person or her voice mail would have him, standing in the airport, ticket in hand, on his way back to her.

The last time he heard her voice was a message she left on his phone.

_They were standing on her porch, just like that had hundreds time before, in the same place that he had told her he loved her a year and a half before. Where he asked her out for the first time 2 years before. And now, here they were, standing on the porch where all these amazing moments in their relationship had happened, and it seemed like this was the same place it was all going to end._

_There time was up, she was leaving in the morning._

_"So..?" She said breaking an awkward silence that had taken the two of them over. _

_"Soo, what?" Sam asked, he knew this was potentially one of their last dates together before she left, and he didn't want it to end on a sour note._

_"Are we going to talk about it or no?" She didn't want to fight either but ever since she had told Sam that she was leaving he seemed withdrawn, taking a step back from her always. It hadn't been the same, yes they were together but it was different._

_It wasn't good, or bad it was just different. _

_"What's there to talk about you're leaving.." He stuffed his hands in his pocket, he didn't want to talk about this but if she wanted to he knew they'd end up fighting it out on her porch._

_"Sam.." _

_"Don't do this, okay? Let me be completely selfish with you for one moment, I don't want you to go, I want you to stay," It was like something snapped inside of him, he was at the point where he'd say anything to her here with him. "I know I should be supportive of your dreams but please, don't go, stay." _

_"Sam, I'm sorry, but, I- I can't stay here." She never thought this day would come, the end of her and Sam, but right now, she was leaving and he was staying. _

_He wanted to be selfish, he wanted her to stay close, stay with him but she didn't want too, she wanted to get as far away from here as possible. _

_"I don't want us to be over, McNally, I want this to be the beginning of a long life together, we've been through it so much.." He trailed off, after learning that she was leaving he became closed off again, building those walls back up, because she was leaving him._

_"It doesn't have to be Sam, we can keep this going, there's phone calling, texting, Skype, this doesn't have to end." She had planned it out, how they could make it work for the sole reason that she wanted it too, she wanted it to be the beginning not the end. _

_"I'm sorry McNally, but long distance isn't going to work, you and I both know that, senior year was hard enough with work, school, hockey, football, cheerleading. There were some days that we didn't even see each other because of our schedules, and now you want to put thousands of miles between us, and try and make it work, when we struggled when we lived a 5 minute drive from each other." _

_It was true the last few months had been difficult, final grades were make or break for final acceptances to college, Sam's sports, hockey finals wrapping up, and pre-training for the summer football season, Andy's cheerleading, being on prom committee, and student council, on top of both of them working part-time jobs it was tough. _

_The only reason they survived it was the late night phone calls they had every night, around 11:00 o'clock he'd call her, they talk about each other's days, when their next face-to-face encounter would be, and what the next day brought for the two. _

_"So that's it then?" She asked him, the last thing she wanted but if he wasn't willing to fight for this then neither was she. "We done, two years together, and life-long friendship gone because I'm leaving."  
><em>

_"Andy, you're moving to Los Angeles, we live in Toronto, there's no way this could work. I've begged you to stay, and you know what," He paused, he had never really told anyone how hurt he was by her leaving, he couldn't understand what was so horrible here, that would make her want to leave. _

_He was here. Her family was here. Her friends were here. Why would she want to leave that? _

_"You never once asked me to go with you..." He trailed off, when he found out she was in fact going to UCLA, he instant thought about going with her, not a lot was keeping him here, and she was everything to him._

_"Sam.." _

_"Admit it, you didn't ask because you didn't want me to go with you. You're moving on to bigger and better things. You wanted this to be over, and you leaving was your out." _

_He wasn't the best of the best, he didn't come from money, his college plans wouldn't exactly set him up for the Millionaires Club but he was happy with where he was going, he thought she was too._

_"Would it have made a difference, Honestly? Me asking you to come with me? Me asking you to abandon your plans to follow mine? After I secretly applied to a school out of the country, and didn't tell you, you would have hopped on a plane with me?" They were in a stare off, neither one moving an inch._

_"Sam, you and I both know that would never of happened, because you have school, and you have Oliver and Jerry. I could never ask you to leave that. Even though there is nothing more I would have wanted then you there with me, on that plane, hand in hand." Her eyes started to fill with tears.  
><em>

_"I would have left all of that for you because I love you, I am madly in love with you and all these hopes and dreams that I have don't mean anything without **you**." This was the first time they had talked about this. "I can be happy anywhere if you're with me."_

_"Then come with me..." She asked him, "Sam... please, come with me." _

_He felt like it was a pity invitation, she was only offering because he brought up her not asking him to join her on this new venture in life._

_"I can't. I want to, but I can't." He had been waiting a long time to hear those words, but hearing them this way, he felt like he needed more time, more time to pack his life up, there was his mom and sister, leaving them with his dad. _

_"Then I guess were done?" She said, it was half question, half statement, she was 50% sure they were on the cusp of breaking up, but if he said no, then they would try to make it work. _

_"Yeah, I uhh- I guess so." He ran his tongue over his teeth, shaking his head, he stepped away from her. Backing up, stepping down the porch steps, and walking over to his truck.  
><em>

_She had turned around, not able to watch him leave, not this way._

_"Andrea McNally, I love you, and I know we are perfect for each other, I wish I had met you later in life. Right place at the wrong time." And just like that he hoped into his truck and left. _

_"I love you Sam Swarek," She whispered as she watched his truck drive down her street one last time._

He had dialed her number so many time, but he didn't know how to tell her, how to tell her that Traci needed her, more now that ever, he didn't know what words could from the right sentence that would convince her to drop everything right around the time of midterms, to get on a plane and come home.

_His phone rang but he didn't pick it up, he didn't want to talk to whoever was on the other end, he just wanted to sit there and mope. _

_"Hey, it's me, listen, you're right, okay? We're in the right place at the wrong time but we can make it the right time, can't we? We can make this work, I need this to work, I can come home once a month, and Thanksgiving is right around the corner, plus most of December, my reading week in November, Spring Break, Sam this can work. We can work. How about this, meet me at the airport? Terminal 4, at 8 pm, Sam meet me there and I know this can work. Sam, please, be there." _

_He didn't go, he knew it would work. He knew they would beat the odds every time, so he sat there alone at some bar drinking, drinking to numb the pain of knowing he could have gone but he didn't, as the time crept closer to 8 pm, he felt sick to his stomach, because as the moments passed, his chance with her was slipping away. _

_All he had to do was be there, walk through the automatic doors, see her beautiful face, pull her into him, and kiss her like his life depended on it. _

_But he didn't do it, he couldn't, he couldn't watch their relationship fizzle out before his eyes. __If he went he was agreeing that for the next 4 years, during the school year he would see her a total of 10 times, and that's if she came home for summer vacation._

_ He didn't know how to only see her 10 times, what he did know was that if would kill him to say goodbye to her, every time hurting just as much as the last, and then he'd could down the days until he saw her again, only to day goodbye days later. _

_He wasn't willing to put himself on curse mode for the next four years, because he would spend the his entire college career mopping around, in a McNally-less fog, until she came home for good. _

_He was worried he'd grow to resent her, or she him. Her giving up major college milestones to come home and see him, to spend hours packing and unpacking her life, over and over again. What if they didn't make it? He was terrified she'd grow to hate him, so, he didn't go._

_He did not go to the airport.  
><em>

_And that was the last time he heard her voice, until now._

Somewhere between him dialing and un-dialing her number he hit the dial number, ear to phone he was calling her.

His heart began to race, he still didn't know what to say to her.

"_Sam?!"_ He heard from the other end.

She had just gotten in from a shift at the bar on campus, she was about to jump into the shower when she heard her phone buzz on her nightstand.

_"Uhh, yeah it's me.._" He said, still not knowing how to tell her.

_"It's really good to hear you're voice,"_ Apart of her hoped that he was calling her to tell her he was outside her door, or at the airport, ready to give them a chance. But she could tell by the tone in his voice that this phone call had a different purpose.

_"You too. McNally you need to come home."_ He blurted out.

She was shocked that he'd ask that of her, especially after how they left things. _"Sam, what's going on?"_ She asked, the worry building in her.

_"You just need to come home, Traci needs you.._" He trailed off, this wasn't something you tell someone over the phone.

_"If Trac needed me, she would have said something, I talk to her every other day, she hasn't said anything_."

_"She would never ask you to leave school or the new life you're building but she needs you here, okay? Andy, I know you probably hate me for everything that's happened but you, you just need to come home._" He was begging, for her to come back, for Traci and for him.

_"Sam, why? Just tell me what's going on._." She knew he would never call her if it wasn't important but if he wasn't going to tell her, why would she?

"_I- I can't,_" He had promised Traci not to tell her over the phone, and at this moment it was breaking his heart not to tell her. He knew his he did, she'd be on the next plane home, ready to be there and fix everything. But if she couldn't hear the urgency in his voice, maybe she wasn't the right person to get them though this.

_"I'm so sorry Sam, but I'm not going to come home, not after months of silence."_ If Traci needed her, she'd say something, and she hadn't so, may this was Sam's attempt at getting her to come home.

_"Okay, sorry for bothering you."_ And he hung up.

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><p><strong>It's a semi-cliff hanger, but a lot of answers and stuff happened? So that makes up for me not telling you guys the reasoning behind not telling you guys what the phone call was about.<strong>

**Review, Comment, Let me know what you guys think!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Again another pre-written chapter.**

**Any and all grammatical errors I apologize for ahead of time!**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>He had just gotten out of the shower, washing the sweat off his body from his now routine 10k morning run, walking to his bedroom he grabbed a pair of black track pants and a grey crew neck when he heard a knock at his door.<p>

Ever since he saw her in the coffee shop, he decided he needed to start doing things for himself again, after high school sports no longer consumed all of his time. But he missed the rush he'd get from beating his personal best time moving from goal line to goal line, or the 50 yard sprints coach used to make them do before every practice, either way he missed running, and the feeling he'd get after the run. And since then he's run 10k every morning, taking the occasional one off to help his body heal.

He had just moved into this place, he opted out of moving into a traditional crappy little apartment and scrapped enough to put a down payment on a tiny little place.

And tiny was an understatement, there was the front door when you walked in, then you either went straight down the hall to the kitchen, with a bathroom you could stop at on your way, or you could go left to a tiny but comfortable living room equipped with a recliner, and a love seat.

In the corner was the kitchen table- or as it was more communally used for; the guys poker table once a week, except it wasn't being used for that much lately.

The upper level consisted of a bathroom, a master bedroom and then a little spare room barely big enough to fit a bed and dresser.

His place wasn't spacious by any means but it was his, and he was free of his father. He knew he could get a nicer and cheaper apartment that was closer to everything but he look at this as an investment to his future, and his ticket to get away from his old man with a enough room to take Sarah and his mother if they wanted, when they were ready.

The knock on the door was more of a banging, not many knew he had moved, and no one who knew would be banging on his door with such purpose.

Making his way down the stairs and to the front door, he sort of thought it was his father- wanting to battle it out after finding out that he had offered Sarah and his mother a ticket to get out their own personal hell.

Rounding the corner, "_I'm coming!"_ He yelled out, hoping it would get who ever was banging on his door like a crazy person would clam down or knock it off before they left permanent damage.

Grabbing the door handle, he swung it open, and his mouth dropped open a little.

_"How could you not tell me?_!" She yelled at him, her hands moving rapidly, she only talked with her hands like this when she was really, really pissed off

"_Hi, McNally nice to see you too_." He responded, how the hell she found his address was beyond him, what the hell she was doing back home was more of a concern to him.

_"Drop the sarcasm_," She said scolding him for dancing around the subject of her surprise visit.

"_I know it's been a while but uhh,_" He leaned in a little,_ "I've always been sarcastic."_ He whispered.

_"You are such an ass, god."_ She understood that he didn't really open up, especially after their history, but the reason behind her unexpected trip back to the Great White North, was anything less than a joke.

They had an awkward lull, she was anger with his inability to take things seriously at this moment in time, but she was also worried, no matter how long they had been apart for he would always hold a special place in her heart and see him like this sucked.

Slowly her anger exterior withered away, and she became herself, her very worried, worst case scenario thinking self.

"_What's the matter with you, how could you not tell me what happened. I get we broke up and you don't want to be with me anymore but Sam, I would have been here, I'll always be here for you. I know you, and I know how you must be feeling, I know you want to shut down and close yourself off but, don't, don't do that._" She was hurt he didn't tell her, she thought they could still relay on each other. She hoped that if anything like this happened to her, he'd be there, offer his support.

_"I uhh- I handled it on my own, you were gone, you're starting a new life that I don't want to horn in on whenever something happens here."_ He was being honest, he wanted her to have fun, be free, and she couldn't do that if he was calling her every 5 seconds when things got tough.

_"So by not telling me you and my best friend were going through hell, was so I could go off and have some surreal American college experinece?_" She didn't care how far away she was, she was forever going to help the people she loves when they need it. "_And you know what the sick part was, I got a phone call from my mom, giving me hell for not showing up to the funeral! I had to find out he died through one of my mom's life long lectures!_"

It was true, she did miss the funeral, it was 3 days ago. It was the hardest day of Sam's life.

"_And I'm sorry, you had to find out that way, but it wasn't my._."

_"You know what Sam Swarek, screw you! Screw you for thinking you could handle it on your own. Screw you for not telling me! He was my friend too! And he was my best friends fiancee, because you thought I needed to be free or whatever you want to call it. I wasn't there for my best friends when she and you needed me the most_." She wanted to help him, but clearly he didn't want it.

He shook his head, _"I uhh, I did call you, remember, I called you and asked you to come home, you said no, so if you want to blame someone maybe you should look in the mirror._" He turned around and began his walk to the kitchen, he knew she would either leave in a rage, or she would storm into his house and something along the lines of '_we're not finished talking about this.'_

She watched as her walked away, trying to recall this conversation he was talking about. Without thinking she followed him inside, kicking her shoes off to the side, she shut the door behind her. "_We're not done talking about this Sam, I'm not letting you walk away from this_." She said, as she entered the kitchen.

"_So close,_" he muttered to himself as he leaned against the corner of his counter,"_So close._"

She was annoyed at the fact that he still to this day pushed people away, when life got tough he tried to tough it out on her own, and it drove her nuts.

They were standing face to face, no one was saying a word, _"I talked to Traci, and we agreed that it would be best for you, and for the both of us if you didn't come home."_ He looked at her, he could tell she had been crying, but there was also this look in her eyes of pure anger, for him or the situation he wasn't too sure.

_"So you and Traci discussed this?! Dammit Sam, you guys really thought it would be best if I didn't come home?" _She was confused on how both he and Traci thought it would be easier without her there, she hadn't been gone that long. "_But why? I need to know why."_

She spoke to Traci at least 3 times a week, they never really talked about Jerry because then it would most likely lead to Sam, and she wasn't ready to talk about that yet.

Some days she really missed him, missed him enough to come home at the mere sound of any love song that played on the radio, other days she was so anger that he didn't show up, and by him not showing up he gave up on them, which hurt a lot.

_"Why, because if you came home, I'd realize that I missed you a hell of a lot more than I thought was possible, Traci and I would both get used to you being back, and then you would eventually have to leave again, and all of us would suffer, so to make it easier we agreed, although it would suck not having you here for a little while, in the long run we would save ourselves the heartbreak_." This was the first time since Traci and Sam, had spoken at the hospital about what to do, that he was hearing the play out loud. " _It would feel like a loss all over again, you have know idea the state Traci and I were in after you left. And I get it th__inking about it know, it sounds like a terrible plan, but at the time it was what we thought was right._"

_"But you called me, you called me and asked me to come home, was that because of.._" She trailed off, he nodded at her slowly.

Her mouth unable to form a sentence. He had called her and said she needed to come home, and she said no. It was all starting to make sense now, he thought all he'd have to do was call her, and she'd be able to her it in his voice that he needed her.

_"I knew I couldn't come out and say it, say that we needed you here after I had left Traci but I-uhh, I couldn't stop thinking about the night, that we uh-_" For some reason just thinking about saying goodbye to Jerry and now her, was too much for him to handle.

His heart beat quickened, his mind began to race, his whole body felt the urge to hold on to her and never let go. _"I couldn't stop thinking about the night we broke up, and I just needed to know you were still there, if you know what I mean_."

He knew the physical aspect was there, she was still very much the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on, and he knew emotionally they were on the same page, they both loved each other but he needed to know if it was still there, the ability to just know, by saying come home to her, she would know that he needed her. Without an explanation of reasoning on why, she would just know.

Her eyes began to well with tears, she said no. _"I'm so sorry, I should of- I should of, listened to you and come home. Sam, I'm so sorry."_ She closed her eyes, she wasn't able to look at him, she knew if the roles were reversed and it was her calling him, he'd just know and be there, but she said no.

She thought about going over to him, he was a mere few footsteps away, and she thought about closing the gap between them.

So she did, she walked over to him, he met her half way, and she snaked her arms around his neck, his following suit and firmly wrapping themselves around her waist.

They stayed like that for awhile, both unsure of where to go next. It was clear that it was there, but there was also school, work, other people.

He was the first one to pull away, knowing if he didn't he may never have let her go, she was the first one to break the silence, "_When you called you said, I know you probably hate me for everything that's happened but you, you just need to come home. Is that what you think Sam, that I hate you?" _

She was asking a loaded question, if he said yes, then there must be a tiny part of him that hates her too, and if he said no, well, then he didn't know where they stood. And to be honest she didn't either.

_"I uhh, I don't know, I mean, the last time we saw each other, I told you that I was happy I didn't go with you, and no matter how many time I reword what I said to you in my head it still sounds terrible. But I am happy that I didn't go, but I also hate myself for being happy about it_." He loved her but he wasn't willing to drop everything and up root his life for her, he was still so young, and he didn't want to wake up sometime down the road and question his decision.

_"I just don't know where to go with that, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to do with that, I mean you broke my heart by not showing up that day_," She was looking down at her hands; shaking. She could never understand how he could tell her was happy he didn't go, but then turn around and say he hated himself for being happy.

"_Well you got me back."_ He said looking at her, when she didn't just come home, he finally realized it was actually over between the two of them.

All of the future moments in his head that he had been holding on to until she came home seemed unattainable.

_"Maybe I should go?_" As the words left her lips, she realized how much she didn't want to go, she wanted to stay, she wanted him to ask her to stay.

She wanted a tour of his new house, she wanted to just be here with him, but she couldn't take back what she had just said.

_"Yeah, maybe that's for the best._" He offered, he didn't want her too, but she seemed ready to leave.

She nodded her head, and slowly made her way through the tiny hallways, to the front door. "_Goodbye Sam._" She said quickly before closing the door behind her.

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><p><strong>Hope this cleared up a lot of issues, the main reason why he called he<strong>**r.**

**I'm having some trouble figuring out where to go from here, any idea please let me know!:)**

**Let me know what you think**

**Review, Comment**


	10. Chapter 10

**I wrote this, and I feel good about it, I had another idea of where to take this but this version came to me more easily. **

**I know most of you guys are happy with the direction I'm taking this, so, if you don't like it, don't read it. **

**Anyways, as always I apologize for any and all grammatical errors!**

**This chapter kind of picks up where the last one left off, you guys will most likely not be happy with the beginning but I shut it down pretty quickly.**

**ENJOY!**

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><p>"So what's his name?" He asked her, he knew from the second she opened her door that her head wasn't here, it was somewhere else, <em>with<em> someone else.

"Huh?" She mumbled as her focus was brought back to him. Even since she agreed to go on this date with Luke, Chloe's order hockey playing, blue-eyed, blond haired brother, all she could was think about Sam.

The way he hugged her in his kitchen sent chills down her spine, still did at the thought of it, she knew there was something there, but the way he shut her out after Jerry died, it just seemed like he was trying to move on without her.

"The guy, or whoever has your mind wherever he is." As the words left his lips he realized nothing was going to happened between them, they weren't going to go anywhere because, clearly- she was in-love with someone else.

"It's uh, Sam, my ex-boyfriend." She shook her head lightly, it was hard to talk about him, actually anything to do with him was difficult.

"And why is he an ex?" Selfishly he wanted to know, Chloe had mentioned something about an ex, but she didn't give details, all she said was that it wasn't her story to tell, and it was none of his business.

"Like I told Chloe, I left, he stayed, nothing else to talk about, and a little tip for you know future relationships bring up a girl's ex, on the first date doesn't really win you any points." She knew she came across rude, and maybe a bit sarcastic but it was true whether they had a connection or not, you don't talk about ex's on the first date.

"Hey, listen, I saw it in your eyes from the second I picked you up that your head wasn't in it, your smile was clearly forced, and I haven't heard you laugh, like really laugh when Chloe suggested that she date your friend Dov from back home, since we got here. So what I mean is I know that this, isn't going anywhere which sucks because you seem like an amazing girl but you've clearly still got something for ex, and that's okay, as long as he's not an idiot like me and let's you go without a fight." He looked at his phone checking the time, it had only been 32 minutes since they say down, and the time was dragging on.

"Is it that easy to read me?" She asked honestly, it was something Sam always called her out, he could read her like a book.

"Yeah, kinda, I've never had to work this hard to keep a conversation going with a girl," He took a slip of his beer, she just gave him a look. Yes, he was cute, but he was also cocky, he knew he was hot, he knew he was talented, and she knew girls were always throwing themselves at him, she just wasn't one of them.

"Sorry, my head just isn't here, and I don't mean it's back at my dorm, but my head is at home, in Toronto, this was a mistake, is it okay if you just took me home?" She said, all she wanted to do was get back to her dorm, pack a bag, and take a cab to the airport and a hop onto a plane, a plane home.

After he got the bill, he drove her back to campus, and they both walked up to her dorm, to find Chloe sitting in their mini kitchen table, awaiting their arrival.

"God, you guys are home really early," She said, closing her magazine she was reading prior to the two walking through the door.

"Yeah I uhh, I'm just going to head to bed, sorry again." She responded, and just like that she made her way to her bedroom.

It wasn't until her door was shut, she let her true emotions out, her eyes filled with tears quickly, and her vision became blurry, mind spinning.

All she wanted to do was go home, see her parents, hug Traci, and just be whole again, she really thought she was doing a good job going out on her own, new school, new country, new friends, new life, she was finally able to shake all the fears she had back home.

Ever since her parents had gotten back together after her dad finally sobered up, she was always scared for the other shoe to drop, for the next thing to happen that would break her dad's sobriety, and have her mom leave again, and this time she might not come back.

Being here, she was free of the looks she got from some people when she told them her parents had in fact worked out their differences and actually happy together. She was in a place where no one knew her, no one knew her past, present or what would happen to her in the future.

She could be anyone or anything she wanted, but she decided to be the same girl, she choice to be herself.

She didn't even realize she was doing it, but when she looked down at her hands, she had already grabbed her travel bag and tossed it on her bed, and filled it with all her essentials clothing wise, and changed into more plane friendly attire.

Choosing to sneak from her bedroom to the bathroom, trying not to interrupt Luke and Chloe who were having a conversation on the couch, "So nothing?" She heard Chloe blurt out.

"Yeah, it's not that there wasn't something there, it was just that something else was in the way. I could tell by her face that she didn't want to be there, or maybe she did with someone else," He trailed off, Andy wasn't too sure if he had stopped talking or just lowered his voice after hearing open her door.

"It's Sam," Chloe said quickly like her life depended on it, "Sam, her ex slash it's not still over boyfriend," Luke gave her a look of confusion, how someone could be your ex but still your boyfriend kind of baffled him. "Ughh, what I mean is Sam and Andy were in-love, like love, love but she's also from Toronto, and clearly she's here in LA, and he's not."

Luke's face became more relaxed, his brows fell back to their normal position. "Ohh, I get it, they broke up but it's still isn't over sort of thing.

"Kind of in a way, Andy goes home from time to time and every time she comes back, it takes her days to go back to normal, she looks sad, stares at her pictures on her wall, it's awful, it's like watching her go through a break up all over again. I don't know what happens while she's gone, but to be honest this Sam guy is a ghost on social media,"

Andy had kept her position at the doorway of the bathroom, still listen on the sibling conversation.

"Chlo, honestly?" Luke said, sounding more like their father than himself.

"What?! When your roommate tells you about some love of her life, and their not so official break up, a girls gotta wonder what he looks like, or what they looked like together." Chloe shrugged her shoulders.

It was true, after Andy had told her about Sam, she almost immediately went on Facebook, instragram, twitter trying to find this guy, she searched Andy's profile, and yeah there were some pictures, not a whole lot.

As she stood there, she thought about it, Sam and her never really took photos, not like Traci and Jerry anyway, they went that type of couple, they just spent time together, it was them.

"Well, you need to be there for her because she clearly isn't over Sam, at all." She listen to the words the two spoke, and she realized that they didn't really know her, sure she had known Chloe for a few months, and knew all about Luke through Chloe, but they didn't know every detail about her, they hadn't known her for years.

Even though that was true they still could tell she was in love with Sam, they barely knew her but they could tell that she wasn't 100% here, because she left her heart at home.

She left her heart, with Sam, in Toronto.

Slipping into the bathroom, she grabbed her toothbrush, face wash, make up bag, and went back to her room.

Within 45 minutes, she had booked, paid for and printed a ticket home, it left LAX in 2 hours, she knew she could take a bus, but to be honest she didn't have the energy.

Finally zipping her bag up, she finished her phone call with the taxi service, it would be there shortly.

"Hey, Chloe? I uhh, I'm going to go home for a few days.." She trailed off, walking out of her room, to their tiny living room where the two siblings were still talking.

Chloe looked frazzled, she never understood how Andy could just pick up and leave as often as she did. This was trip number 4 and it was barely after midterms. She also couldn't understand how Andy could afford it, plane tickets from LA to Toronto couldn't be cheap, and Andy didn't work enough hours at the bar on Campus to cover her constant plane rides home. "Ohh, uhh, okay? Are you okay?" She asked nervously.

Her eyes started to fill with tears again, "No, uhh, but I will be I just need to go home, see my family, Traci.." She was going to continue but Chloe cut her off.

"And Sam?" She questioned quickly. "Andy, listen I know it must be hard for you being in a new place, not to mention a new country, without your friends or family but if you keep running, you'll never make a home here. If you keep running to Sam you'll never get over him."

"Okay, so you've known me for a few months and now you've decided what's best for me?" She knew Chloe cared about her, but Chloe knew absolutely nothing about her life back home, going through someone's Facebook doesn't mean you know anything about them, you only know what they want you to see."You have no idea what Sam and I have been through, you have no idea what home for me is, so yes, I'm leaving, and maybe when I get back you won't be so judgmental about my life choices."

Andy and Chloe had never fought, but then again they didn't really know anything about each other, just whatever the other one was willing to reveal.

"Yeah, and maybe when you get back you won't be such a bitch." Chloe said under her breath. as Andy walked out the door.

Waiting for her cab, she debated on calling her mom, maybe even Traci, let someone know that she would be coming home. Flipping her phone back and forth in her hand all the way to the airport, and trying to decided if she should call or not.

_"Fifteen minutes until boarding, flight AYX LAX to Toronto Pearson Airport_" The speakers rang on, she only had fifteen minutes to decide whether or not to call someone.

Quickly she made a decision, dialing, putting the phone to her ear, awaiting a pick up on the other end, "Hello?" She heard from the other end.

"Hey, it's me, it's Andy, look I know it's been a while to say the least and I'm probably the last person you want to be talking to right now, but I uhh, I could really use your help." She became nervous all of a sudden, worried that the phone call would end with her being hung up on.

"Uhh, okay McNally, shoot, what's up?" He offered his service, not too sure what he could do for her with her being so far away.

"Can you pick me up?" The phone call went silence, "From the airport, from Pearson airport in about uhh," She looked down at her watch factoring time difference, flight time, "In let's say 5 hours? Please"

"Wait you're coming home?!" She could hear the excitement in his voice, "Does S-"

She cut him off, she was determined to prove to herself that Sam wasn't the reason she was coming home, "No, he doesn't and I kind of want to keep it that way, for now." She felt bad not wanting to tell Sam but she didn't want Chloe to be right.

"Okay, McNally, I'll be there in 4 hours and 59 minutes." He told her jokingly.

"Thanks Oliver, I really appreicate it."

_"Flight AYZ to Pearson Airport, now boarding,_" She looked around realized the people waiting around, had now formed a line, "I gotta go, I'll see you soon."

"See you soon McNally."

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><p>This was huge news, Andy was coming home, and she asked him, one Oliver Shaw to pick her up. By no means was this a romantic thing but this was and could possibly be on to the last chances Oliver had at getting these two kids back together.<p>

It killed him to see his best friend, hsi brother not fully himself ever since she left. But this was a chance to make things right.

Grabbing his keys, and his jacket he decided he was going to set this plan in motion.

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><p>The last thing Sam expected to happen after a long day of work was to have someone banging on his door, this was now the second time this had happened to him, but then again, he didn't like to thing about how that last conversation ended.<p>

Standing to his feet, beer bottle in hand, he made his way over to his front door.

"Sammy, brother, don't you look ravishing," Oliver yelled, allowing himself access into Sam's front hallway.

"Oliver, what the hell are you doing here? And uhh, why are you so chipper?" He asked confused, following his friend back into his own kitchen.

"Well Sammy, I've gotta ask you what are you doing 4 hours from now?" He wanted to play it out, let Sam put the pieces together, but he was really excited.

"I was hoping to be sleeping, but by the way you're looking at me like a kid on Christmas morning I doubt that will be happening, am I right brother?" He took a long slip of beer, whatever Oliver had planned was clearly going to take a lot of energy he didn't have.

"I need to be honest with you right now," He looked at his friend, who finally put down his beer bottle, and seemed to let the tension relax from his shoulders. "The past few months have been hell for all of us but especially you,with losing Jerry, and McNally leaving I know it's been really tough but I can't sit around and watch you mope anymore."

"Name one time you saw me mope." Sam stated bluntly, he thought he was doing a pretty good job of keeping it together, he was still in school, working full time around his schedule.

"I watch you mope on the inside, and I gotta be honest I bet you other people see it too." He was being honest, Sam wasn't the same guy after McNally left and it became more apparent after they lost Jerry.

"So, life happens people change, grow, move on, Oliver we can't keep living in the past, she left and Jerry's gone, we have to accept that and move on." Ever since Jerry died Sam notice Oliver held on to things a little tighter than normal, his girlfriend Zoe, his friendship with Sam, Noelle, even Frank.

"Just answer me one question," He said, pointing on hand at his friend.

Sam rolled his eyes, not ready to hear whatever was going to come out of Oliver's mouth next. In a way he knew what was coming so, he decided to answer in question before it was asked, "I miss her man, I wish I didn't but I do. Keep thinking about the future, kids, park on Sundays, real life, something more than this, with her."

Oliver's jaw dropped to the floor, he knew that Sam and Andy still had a connection but he didn't think Sam would openly admit it without a ton of prying and many beers.

"She's coming home." Oliver blurted out, after picking his jaw up off the floor.

"What?!" Sam said more confused at to what his friend was talking about.

"McNally is coming home; now, she called me about an hour ago asking if I'd pick her up from the airport." There were no major events happening that would be the reasoning by her return home, especially after her visit two weeks earlier. "Sammy, she'll probably kill me for doing this but you need to pick her up from that airport."

"I can't Ollie, not after the way we left things," It was true they hadn't spoken since she walked out his front door, their conversation was so scattered and messy, it felt so unlike them, but none the less he couldn't just show up at the airport.

"Screw how you left things Sam, you and this girl are meant to be together and if I have to watch you mope for a minute longer, or see some sad tweet from McNally's twitter I am going to smack you both so please, for the love of all that's holy, pick that girl up from the damn airport." Sam laughed to himself, he knew Andy had Twitter but she wasn't the sad tweeting type, she was the girl who would put on a poker face and act like everything's fine.

"Fine, I'll go." He didn't want to fight with Oliver about this anymore and he also really wanted to see her.

"Great, now get me a beer, you can't drink you have a mission that involves the ability to drive but you can spend the next," He glanced down at his phone, "2 and a half hours telling me what happened last time, and what you're going to say this time to not screw it up."

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><p><strong>What did you guys think?<strong>

**It's the longest chapter I've ever written:)**

**Review, comment :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Here's a new chapter.**

**Now before you read it please not it kind of contradicts somethings I said before but it only made sense this way, so please keep any negative comments to yourself.**

**As always any and all grammatical errors I blame on my tired state.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>The plane ride was about five hours, now most people would watch a movie or sleep because after all whether you were from Toronto or LA it was the middle of the night.<p>

But not Andy McNally, she couldn't do either, she tried to watch a movie, get comfortable and relax but it was no use.

Every movie that was an option some how, someway reminded her of Sam, for example, the new Hunger Games movie; Mocking Jay Part 1, she remembered the time she practically dragged Sam to the first Hunger Games movie. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the movie, but he just didn't care to sit in a dark room, with an uncomfortable wage between him and his girlfriend.

Then there was Prom Night, which of course reminded her of her own Prom Night minus the crazy teacher that stocked and killed Brittany Snow's entire family.

_"Are you nervous?" Traci asked, as she jumped up on to her bed. _

_"Why would I be nervous?" Andy questioned, ever since she got accepted into school things were different, not a good or bad, just different._

_"Oh, I don't know, it's just a day that we've been dreaming and talking about for years, this day goes up there with our wedding days, having children. It's freaking prom, how are you so calm about this?" Traci said as she used her fingers to count the memorable life milestones._

_Inside Traci was freaking out, she wanted everything to be perfect, and it was on track to do so. __She had the perfect date, a guy she loved, and who she was going to graduate as high school sweethearts with, she had been accepted into U of T, Jerry was going to Seneca College for police foundations, she loved her dress, Jerry agreed to match, everything was going to be perfect._

_"I just uhh, have a lot on my mind I guess," Andy said quietly, as she sat at the chair of Traci's desk. _

_She was worried about what was going to happen before, during and after of Prom, getting accepted to UCLA had put a cloud over her relationship with Sam, neither of them talked about anything too deep, in fear that the conversation would some how end up on the topic of her going away for school, and they were both scared of how that conversation would end. _

_So they simply just talked about the basics, her parents, grades, Traci and Jerry, Oliver, just keeping anything to do with them, with Sam and Andy at bay for now._

_"Like what?" Traci could see her best friend was withdrawn, and this was no way to start what was suppose to be one of the best nights of their lives. _

_"Just stuff." _

_"Andy.." _

_"Everything is a mess, everything is up in the air right now Trac, I made a decision, one that literally effected every person I care about you, my mom, dad, and Sam." The two friends hadn't really __talked about the effect Andy's departure had on people, it was simply put that Traci was happy for her, and was going to miss her like crazy and hopefully visit, but they didn't talk about how everyone would feel about it._

_"I literally am watching my relationship with the one person in this entire world that I care about more than anyone else fall apart at the seams, and I'm just supposed to sit here, and pretend that everything is fine, when it's not, everything is so far from okay right now." She fought back the tears, partially because Traci had just finished her makeup and partly because she didn't want to cry anymore. _

_She had spent so much time lately crying, after she got home from the party that she told Sam at she cried, after she told her parents, after hearing that Sam got into Seneca with Oliver and Jerry, it was just a lot for her to handle on her own, she didn't want to burden anyone with what she was going through, because it was her choice, she knew what she was doing when she applied to a school thousands of miles away from her home._

_"Andy, everything is going to be okay? Do you want to know why?" It broke Traci's heart to see her best friend like this, so defeated and down on herself. _

_"Please, tell me how Trac, because where I'm standing, it seems like everything is going to hell." She was still fighting the tears, and loosing, as a single tear fell onto her check. _

_"Because you have an amazing boyfriend who loves you, your parents adore you, you got accepted into the school of you dreams, and because even though you're going to be really far away from me, you will always be my best friends, no matter what." Traci offered as a response, followed by a teary eyes smile. _

_It wasn't long before both of them were tearing up, letting the tears fall from their eyes. _

_After they let out all of their emotions, fixed their makeup, put their dresses on they were ready to meet at Gail's house for pictures. With both of Gail's parents with on the force, and high ranking at that, they had a pretty nice house. _

_As the two best friends walked arm in arm, out to Gail's back deck, Andy was nervous as to what was waiting for them when they got there. _

_Locking eyes with Sam almost instantly as she stepped on the deck, his breath was taken away, he had never seen Andy like this, yes she dressed up for special occasions, but she really went all out for today. Her hair was swept to one side of her head, and loosely curled, her make up was a little more glamorous than usual but she still looked amazing._

_She insisted that he didn't see the dress until the day of and he was so glad that he reluctantly agreed, she was in a long cream dress that fell beautifully on her slender frame, with a sweetheart neckline, and a slightly jeweled waistline. _

_Absolutely__ stunning. _

_Sam didn't look too bad either, sure she had seen him in his tie for game day apparel but this was different, he was wearing a black suit, with a black tie, they both agreed that it would be easier to match that way._

_Walking over to him, he met her in the middle, "You uhh, you look absolutely stunning McNally," He said still trying to catch his breath. _

_"You don't look so bad yourself Swarek," She said placing her hand on his chest, and placing a gentle kiss on his lips. _

_After taking a million and one pictures of each other, with one another, without one another, couples, the girls, the guys, parents, no parents, they were all finally in the limo off to prom. _

_For the first time since her news __had come out, she felt good, she felt happy, like everything was happening the way it was meant too._

_ Making their way to the table, Andy finally kicked off her heels, before her butt hit the chair, "My god, my feet kill, who knew this whole high heel thing was so painful." She said as Sam sat down beside her. _

_"Hey girl, no pain, no gain." Traci said from across the table._

_"Yeah, yeah, I know beauty is pain," She said not really caring about pain or gain, she just wanted to feel her feet again. _

_The night went relatively well, Traci and Jerry won Prom King and Queen, had their first dance, Oliver won Jester. Just as the night was winding down, and Andy found herself on the dance floor, holding Sam tightly, as Ashes by Andy Brown played in the background._

_"So... McNally had tonight been everything you dreamed it would be?" Sam asked her, pulling away slightly so he could see her face. _

_"Yeah, I guess it has been, I've got this amazing date, who also happens to be my loving boyfriend and who looks really, really good in a suit." She said, as she looked at him with a certain look in her eyes. "My best friend is glowing, and all I need is for my super hot boyfriend to kiss me before this song ends, and my night will have been a fairy tale." She said, as she rose on her tippy toes to get closer to his lips. _

_"I think I can make that happen," He told her, closing the space between their lips._

_"Get a room!" They hear Oliver yell from a few feet away._

_And just like that Prom was over, all the build up, the anticipation was over, all that was left to do was go to the after party, have an amazing time and feel the closeness of these people that you've spent the last four years with, getting to know and love, before they all go their separate ways. _

_Upon arriving at the party, Andy found Sam at the beer pong table where he and Jerry were playing an intense game against Chris and Dov. _

_She snaked her arms around his waist before kissing the back of his neck, as Jerry took his shot, "Hey there," He said to her spinning around and hugging her around the neck. "Gimme one sec," He said quickly, before turning back around and sinking his shot in Chris and Dov's final cup._

_"And that's game boys!" Jerry exclaimed, his arms in the air. "Unless, you guys really think you can sink the redemption shot."_

_Andy looked around at where she was, she looked at her friends, Traci, Sam and all she could think was how lucky she was, that she had such amazing people in her life. How she had grown up with these people for years, they had become apart of her, they were family, and they meant the absolute world to her. _

_In this moment the thought of leaving them made her chest tighten, "Okay, now I'm all ours," Sam said bring her back to reality, and placing a kiss on her check._

_"Can we uhh, go somewhere and talk?" She asked quietly. _

_He could hear it in her voice that she needed to talk about something serious, he looked around trying to find a spot where they won't be interrupted, "Yeah, uhh, of course, let's go to the uhh Gazebo?" He offered. __  
><em>

_Jerry's backyard set up was ideal for a party except for the Gazebo which was in the far right corner of Jerry's larger than average property._

_She was quiet the whole way, and once they got there she was still really quiet, "McNally is everything okay, you're uhh, never this quiet." He said as they sat on the love seat._

_"I've uhh, been thinking and uhh.." She knew she had freaked him out by saying she wanted to talk. She was scare herself, as she tried to find the words to continue she could feel more tears forming in her eyes quickly. _

_He could see her overall shell starting to crack, "Hey, are you okay?" He said with a sense of urgency in his voice, placing an arm around her. _

_"No, I'm not, I was just looking around at everyone, seeing how happy they were, and knowing how happy they made me, thinking about all the amazing times we've had with each other, and then I think about the future and how I'm leaving and I feel sick to my stomach I feel like I'm leaving everything I know and love behind for some stupid dream I have..." She stopped, her breathing had become short and choppy. "I don't think, I can do it Sam." She said quickly and quietly._

_"Can't do what McNally?" He asked, confused at her sudden change of heart. She had always been the one with a plan, even if it was one that no one knew about she had a plan. _

_"I don't know if I can go," She said between shaky breaths, " I don't know if I can go to UCLA."_

_This was the first and last time they actually talked about her leaving, the only other time they talked about it was the night before she left. _

_"This isn't something you should be worrying about right now," He said, kissing her forehead, "Right now you should be focused on having an amazing night with your friends okay? Because this is the only prom night you're ever going to have and I don't want you to waste it worrying about something that you can't change right now. Okay?" _

_"Okay." _

_They never did talk about it again, it never felt like the right time, there was always tomorrow, or the next day, the two of them used those excuses until there were no tomorrows left. _

As her plane landed, she collected her stuff, her carry on was rather scrambled, she did a mental check before standing up, 'phone; check, wallet; check, iPod and headphones; double check.' She slowly rose to her feet, and got her composure together.

She knew Oliver would probably borrow Sam's truck or Jerry's car to pick her up, because after all he was the King of Mooching.

As she waited for her suitcase to appear on the belt, she took her phone out and dialed Oliver's number, "Hey, it's me I uhh just landed." She said into the end of her phone.

"Oh okay, well I'm uhh, just pulling into the parking lot, what terminal are you in again?" He asked, knowing after he hung up with her he'd have to immediately call Sam with the information.

"Umm, terminal 3 gate B, I guess I'll grab my suitcase and meet you by the escalator?" She said, noticing her suitcase popping on to the belt.

"Uhh yes, yeah, by the escalator, give me 5 minutes." He said in one quick breath.

"Okay, see you soon." She said before hanging up her phone, and grabbing her suitcase off of the rotating belt.

Placing her suitcase on the cold floor, she doubled checked that it was in fact her suitcase, extending the handle she began to walk to the escalator.

As she descended she looked around for Oliver's familiar face, but had no luck, she knew he needed a few minutes to find her, so she sat at the nearest bench and pulled her phone out, and check to see if Chloe had texted her or left any messages.

She didn't even notice how close he got once he found her, "Hi." He said, not knowing how she would react to seeing him there.

The voice she heard snapped her out of her phone and her eyes shot up to see if the voice matched the person standing in front of her, "Sam.." She said, trying to stand to her feet, "What uhh, what are you doing here?" She asked him, fully standing as she finished.

"I uhh heard you needed a ride."

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><p><strong>What do you guys think?<strong>

**Reviews, comments?**

**I feel a serious conversation for the next chapter.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay, let me first apologize for that lack of updates! Secondly, I want to wish you all a belated happy holidays and happy new year!**

**I've had most of this written for a while, but I just kept tweaking it, adding bits and pieces here and there. Trying to see if it works, anyways I'm not 100% satisfied with it but I had to give you guys an update!**

**Hopefully it all flows nicely, if not I'm sorry! **

**Any and all grammatical errors I apologize in advance for!**

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><p>When she looked up from her phone and saw him.<p>

He was standing there in all his glory, black leather jacket, jeans, Henley long sleeve cream coloured tee, and that dimply, half smile he used to throw at her when he was trying to win a fight. Just knowing he was there she felt a wave of relief wash over her. Apart of her wanted to be angry to see him there, mad at Oliver for sending Sam to pick her up but she wasn't she was just happy to see him and even happier to be home.

When his eyes met hers, he felt whole again, in a cliche way when she left she took a piece of him, and just knowing that she was here, really here. And not a country away he felt a little safer.

It was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, she was here, right in front of him and not going anywhere if he had anything to say about it.

The whole drive to the airport he was nervous, he was thinking about well, everything, the last 6 months, the last year, where they were to where they are now, he was thinking about what Oliver had told him less than an hour ago.

_"Sammy, you're going to that airport, because I have this feeling in my gut that she doesn't just need a drive home." Oliver said, sipping on his beer he insisted Sam get for him. _

_"Oh yeah? And what does you gut say she needs other than a drive?" He was skeptic of actually going, of course he wanted to see her but he didn't want to upset her in anyway or himself for that matter. _

_"YOU! DUH, you guys were great and you always will be, but dammit Sam you two need to get it together before it's too late." Oliver had feared one thing every since his dear friend McNally left, that eventually she'd come home with someone else. "How would you feel if she came home this time next year with a serious boyfriend or even a fiancee?" _

_The truth was no, Sam had never thought about it, if he did, like he was now he'd feel nauseous. He wasn't stupid he knew she had every right to move on, just like he did but he always, in the back of his mind thought that she'd finish at UCLA, and come home, where they could pick up where they left off._

_"I uhh, I don't know Ollie," The thoughts were now racing through his mind, she comes home with some local California boy, who's tall, tan and all 'hey, what's up dude? Let's go catch a wave'. _

_"Well if you don't know I'll fill you in, she's going to come home and be with someone else, and you, well you Sammy, you'll lose your mind. Maybe not at first but slowly, I'll have to watch you break down, become bitter and resentful, and watch the love I know you still have for her turn into hate," Oliver paused to look at his friend, see how he was processing this scenario._

_"I could never hate McNally, and that little story you just told will never happen." Sam stood by what he said, he truly believed that she would never do that to him. _

_"Oh yeah? And what's stopping her? You guys broke up, she can move on whenever she'd like." In a way Oliver was hoping to spark some sort of emotion out of Sam to wake him up. Something that would make him realize that the choices he was making right now would effect his entire future. _

_"It's never going to happen because I'm going to that damn airport, I'm going to get her, I'm going to get my girl." As the words left his lips he felt a smile form on his face, Oliver's too. _

_His girl. Andy McNally would always be his. _

"So how have you been McNally?" He asked, as he put the keys in the ignition.

"I've uhh been good, you know school and work takes up most of my time, so I'm uhh good." She said, it had never been this difficult to talk to him, it was always easy no pressure but for some reason, right now she couldn't find the right words.

"That's good." He bobbed his head as he spoke.

Silence over came the vehicle quickly, not because they had nothing to talk about but they didn't know how to go about talking, dive into the deep stuff, all their past and present issues, or just talk to fill the air with words.

Sam knew when he agreed to pick her up that she was allergic to silence and eventually she would have to talk, but he wasn't too sure what she was going to say to fill the silence, there were two options, one was simply stuff, just to fill the air in the truck or there was the stuff he wasn't always in the mood to talk about but she certainly was.

She thought about what to say, or what topics were a good idea, but eventually she knew she'd blurt something out.

"Do you remember Prom night?" She asked him, looking up and over at him, his eyes still glued to the road.

She wanted to talk about it, she wanted to talk about what she said and how they never discussed it again.

"Yes, I do." He stated, he didn't know where this was going but to be honest he missed just talking to her, hearing her voice, watching her fiddle with her hands, furrow her eyebrows when he said just about anything.

"What do you remember about it?" She asked, testing the waters before diving in.

"If you're asking me if I remember every single detail of that night, the order of the songs, who went with who, and what colour each of you girls wore then no, I don't remember a lot." He was being honest that night wasn't about everyone else, it was about them.

"Okay, smart ass, what do you remember about Prom?" She was tempted to bring up the Gazebo, but she was still testing his memory, she didn't want to fight about something that was a distant haze.

"I uh, I remember the smile painted on your face the entire night, from start to finish you were grinning from ear to ear." He said smiling himself.

"Awhhhh," She said, as her checks turned a little red, blushing from his complement. "What else?"

He laughed at how she wanted him to continue, he missed her. "I remember how you looked breathtaking when you waked out on to that porch, I remember asking myself how I got so lucky to have you not only in my life but be a major part of it.

"Sam," She said softly, looking down at her hands again.

Neither spoke for a while, she was so happy with his answer that she didn't want to ruin the rest of the ride, but she knew that it was now or never to talk about it.

"Do you, uhh, do you remember our talk in the Gazebo?"

"Yes I do, why?" He questioned.

"You remember all of it?" She challenged him because even to this very day it bothered her that he brushed off the conversation in a way, she admitted she didn't know if she really wanted to leave and he told her not to worry about it.

Maybe it was her bruised ego but she half expected him to fully agree with staying.

He vividly remembered what happened, she said she didn't think she could go through with it, actually leaving, "Look who's talking in riddles now?" He said sarcastically, "Yes, I remember all of that night including the Gazebo part."

"So why didn't you tell me not to go then?" It was a question Sam had asked himself more than once since that night.

"Would that have made a different, honestly? You were so set on going, you were excited, you wanted to go." It hurt him to know she wanted to leave him, he was so in-love with her the thought of not being able to see her, hear her voice, be embraced by her scent, just being with her terrified him.

"Sam..." She paused, this was difficult to talk about it was months of emotions and thoughts coming out in one car ride. "You never asked me to stay."

"I uhh, I didn't tell you to stay because it's not my choice, it's your life Andy, and I wasn't about to try and make decisions for you," His grip became tighter on the steering wheel, his knuckles going white. "I wasn't ready to ask you to stay, to get my hopes up that you might, and then you leave."

"But I told you I didn't want to go, I said it, so why did you just brush it off?" She wasn't mad or angry, she was just hurt that he didn't say anything, after he heard that she wanted to stay.

"I didn't brush it off, I just knew that it was what you wanted, and I knew that if I asked or told you to stay that there was a chance you might leave, and it's not my choice to make, it was yours." The only time he asked her to stay was the night before she left, and he did it because he wanted her to stay but he also did it because he didn't want to look back on his life and wonder what might have been if he had asked her to stay.

He did anyway, he wondered what would have happened if he said something that night, or the next day, how things would have played out, if anything would have changed.

"Sam, pull over," She said quietly, but with authority.

"McNally, why would I pull over were only 25 minutes away from your parent's house?" He was confused by the request.

"You need to pull over because I need to talk to you about this, and you're too focused on the road to look at me." She turned to look at him, while he was still focused on the road.

"That's how you prevent accidents McNally, paying attention to the road." He said, putting his blinker on he pulled over, put his truck in park, killed the engine and took off his seat belt

"Why didn't you want me to stay?" She said, looking at him, and for the first time in this car ride, he looked directly back at her.

He let out a laugh, "I did want you to stay, but like I said it wasn't my choice it was yours, I'd never tell you how to live your life." His face fell, and then became more serious looking.

"I wanted us to talk about it, you and me, see if we could make it work." She looked down at her hands they were shaking slightly, she began to fiddle with them in hopes he wouldn't notice.

"Long distance?" He questioned quickly, "Because I'm sorry McNally I'm not willing to do that, I wasn't willing to let our relationship become a couple of generic phone calls every week, maybe a visit here and there, and have me consistently wondering if you found something better there, someone better, I wasn't willing to watch our relationship break down until there was nothing else to talk about or we just stopped talking all together."

"No, I wanted to know if we could make it work by you coming with me, looking at programs there, or seeing if there were programs for me here, but there was also the family element, your mom and sister. I wanted to make a plan, figure it out, Sam I just wanted to be with you." She still didn't look up, she just stared at her hands.

"I uhh, I don't know what you want me to say." He said putting his seat belt back on.

"I wanted you to ask me to stay." She blurted out, "I wanted you to fight for me, I wanted you to want me to stay, I wanted you to say that you wanted me by your side no matter what."

"How was I suppose to know that?" The Andy McNally he knew and loved wasn't the needy type, she was strong, independent, a heart of a lion. She wasn't someone who needed people, she did things on her own, rarely asked for help.

"You just are." She said quietly.

When it came to Sam Swarek she wanted to be open and vulnerable, after what happened with her parents she was scared to let people in emotionally, but with Sam she wanted to. She wanted him to ask her to stay because he needed her to, because he loved her enough for her to want to stay. She didn't want to go, she expected some people to try and sway her into staying, but no one did they either were completely supportive or didn't really say anything to her about it.

After prom she became more open to the idea of leaving, hoping that at some point Sam would finally talk to her about it but they never did, well, they did, but that was the night she was leaving, and it was too late.

After her confession, he started the engine and they continued back en route home.

Things went silent for a while, neither of them knew what to say, yes they had things to say but neither wanted to end this night in a fight.

He felt helpless, like he was in the middle of no where and no way to get home. Here she was Andy McNally sitting there, right there beside him, and she had just told him she wanted him to ask her to stay, that night in the gazebo she wanted him to tell her to stay. And now here he was, in his truck months later, watching her chest inhale and exhale with air, and he wondered how he had gone so long without seeing her.

She had just been completely honest with him, even after that had happened, after every thing that had said to each other, she opened herself up to him. She was emotionally naked with him, and all she wanted was for him to let her all the way in, open up and tell her how he was feeling at this very moment, but nothing.

They both sat there in silence.

_When Sam heard the knock on his bedroom door he knew it must be Jerry, because Oliver would just storm in. He knew that his friend was there to check on him, make sure he wasn't dead, because after she left, he shut himself off from the world, turned off his phone, no internet, no laptop, nothing, just him sitting in his room, trying to sleep, trying to figure out where to go from her, where to go without her. _

_"Sammy, brother, listen, I know you're going through hell right now but I need you to pull yourself out of this funk you're in." Jerry was always the voice of reason between the three friends. Oliver was the hopeless romantic, Sam was Sam, and then there as Jerry the one that kept them all grounded and together._

_Sam knew he was right ever since Andy had left for school he wasn't himself, he wasn't the same person because she wasn't there, she made him want to be better, adn no she was gone. "_

_Jer, you don't get it, I feel nothing, I just want to sit here and be alone." _

_"Well, that's too bad brother because you're not alone, despite Andy leaving you're not alone, you have me, Olli, Trac, your mom, Sar. Sammy, you're surrounded by people that love you and don't want to see you like this, this isn't you Sammy." He said to his friend in hopes it would bring some kind of emotion to the suface, anger, hurt, something to make Jerry know that Sam was still in there somewhere._

_"But the one person that I love the most isn't here, she's thousands of miles away," He could feel his chest tighten as he spoke, the actual thought of how far away she was killed him a little on the inside. _

_"I know buddy," Jerry patted his friend on the shoulder. "But you have two options of what you can do right now, because what you're doing right now, this" He paused, looking around at the mess Sam was living in, "This isn't you Sammy. The Sammy we all know and love knows what he wants and goes and gets it. He doesn't let life pass him by."_

_"I don't know what to do," He said lowering his head into his chest. _

_"You have two options, you can A- get up, have a shower, because god knows you need it, get changed, start to grasp the reality that she's gone, and begin to put your life back together or, option B- you shave, shower, change, hop on a plane and go get her. But either way you need to have a shower because Sammy, you stink." They both cracked a smile, the first one for Sam in days._

_"She didn't want to go.." He said quietly._

_At first Jerry didn't fully register what his friend had said, "Huh?" _

_"She didn't want to go." _

_"Sammy, what do you mean?" As far as Jerry knew, Andy had been accepted to school, and was going, no if, and's or but's. In a way he resented Andy for leaving like that, leaving her best friend and his heartbroken at her decisions.  
><em>

_"Prom, at your party, we uh, we had a talk and she said she didn't want to go, and I just brushed it off, I uhh, I never brought it up again," His mouth gaped out slightly, not sure what to say next._

_"But you wanted her to stay right?" He knew that Traci wanted her to stay, but knew she needed to be supportive of her friend. _

_"Of course I did, but I don't know, my god I don't know." He put his head in his hands._

_"Sammy, like I said you have two choices, you go get her or you let her go. Either way, you have to accept the choice you make, and stick by it. There's nothing I'd want more for her to come home, and see you and Trac happy again, but like I said it's not my choice, it's yours, so you're going to have to accept the consequences of your actions." The tough love that Jerry_

_Jerry was right, he had to make a choice, and he decided to let her go, but everyday he thought about what it would be like if he did go after her._

_If he had hopped on a plane after Jerry left his bedroom, and went to see her, to fight for her. _

_What would she say? Would she come home?_

"Do you ever miss it?" He asked her, as he took the time to look at her before changing lanes.

"Miss what?" She needed him to specify because if it had anything to do with home of course she missed it, that's why she had been home more times than she had initially planned.

"You know, all of it.." Trailing off, he moved his hands from the steering wheel tossed them in the air for a moment before putting them back at 10 and 2.

"Sam, did you develop new way of talking while I was gone?" As soon as the words left her lips, she regretted them, she didn't want to ruin this time she had with him by bring up the messy part of their past. She never wanted to rub it in his face that she left, left him.

He laughed to himself, he could hear the nervousness in the voice as she spoke, "Calm down McNally, it's okay, no I haven't, I just mean uhh, do you ever miss the life you had before you left?" The fear was now in his voice.

He desperately wanted to her to say that she missed it with everything she had in her, but there was a chance that she didn't, she enjoyed her new life not because he wasn't in it, but it was because it was what she had always wanted. He knew that what they had was real, but she wanted a fresh start, and UCLA could give her that. He just wanted to know if it was everything she wanted it to be.

She would never have thought that Sam would ask her something like that, sure she had thought about it, but now she had to tell him.

"Yeah," She said softly, taking her eye off the road ahead of them and placing them on him. She paused, waited for a moment, she knew that telling him would lead into another intense conversation.

She cracked a smile, as memories of the last 4 years, all the laughter and amazing times she had before she left. It was hard leaving all of it behind, she understood that you need to move on, that you can't live in the past forever, but the people she had met had become her family, they were the people that she wanted in her life for a long time. They had grown up together over the last four years that had high highs and low lows, but somehow, always, they made it back to each other, they remained a family.

Over the Thanksgiving break she walked around Campus, watching students take their suitcases and backpacks, piled them in the back of their parents cars, and go home. She knew they were going to come back but it was a realization that this wasn't really their home. This was just a temporary thing, because at the end of every semester, every single one of them would pack their bags, pile them in the back of a car, and go home. No one ever called UCLA their home, well she didn't anyway.

"I miss it, sure UCLA is great, it's my dream school but my head just isn't there you know?"

"Why isn't you're head there, if you don't mind me asking.." He didn't want to push, the bounders they had developed had become blurry since she left, and he didn't want to over step.

"Because my heart is here." She said quickly, ever since she stepped off the plane she felt out of place. She tried to give it time, let everything sink in around her, emerges herself into her surroundings, but there was no use, she missed her home, she missed her parents, her friends, Sam.

His heart skipped a beat when she spoke, her heart was still here, "So it that why you're here McNally?" He said.

"Back to the riddles are we Swarek?" She laughed, he was guarded and she could tell. "Are you asking me if home is where my heart is?"

All she wanted to here was him admit that he missed her, and letting her leave was one of the hardest things he ever had to do in his life, but he knew it was what she wanted to he let her go.

"Yeah, I guess I am," A small smile crept up on his face.

"My head isn't there, because both my head and heart are here, at home, with you Sam." Despite her fears, she chose to open up to him, "And I know we broke up and we've seen each other a few times, but I just need you to know that every time you crossed my mind all I wanted to do was get on a plane and come home, come back to you. I know it sounds stupid and cliche but you're it, I've been away from you for months now and I count down the days until I might see you again."

He was a little stunned, not at what she said but that fact that she said it. After everything he had put her through, after everything that had happened she still loved him, and now all he had to do was say what he was feeling without messing it up.

"So what are you saying McNally?" He asked in a low raspy voice.

She bit her lip lightly, nervous at what she was about to say next, "I'm saying that I love you Sam Swarek, never stop and I probably never will."

As the words left her lips she looked up, and saw that she was home. She didn't know what to do next, her gut instinct was to run, run away from him, from her emotions, from all of it.

And that's what she did, the truck was barely in park and she had already gotten out, and made a dash for the back to grab her bags.

He didn't really have time to think or react to what was happening around him. He had this stupid grin on his face, she still loved him, after all this time, before he knew it she was at her front porch being greeted by her parents, and he was still sitting in his truck.

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><p>Don't hate me, I need some forum of momentum for the next chapter!<p>

Review, Comment, Let me know what you think! :)


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